Taken Back
by Edgar Ureno
Summary: This is just a nice little HiE fic. i don't know about shipping yet, but friendships are FOR SURE :D will be rated t for the moment, might boost it to M in the future. There WILL be references to many many things, but i promise not to make them too annoying ;) Feedback is appreciated! *Title Change because YOLO*
1. Chapter 1- A Look Back

_**this is an independent, non profit literal piece. i do NOT own my little pony, nor do i own heckler & koch. i only own Edwin Marshall and Elijah Marshall. **_

* * *

Grass. Countless blades of grass were felt against my face and prone body. No matter how you live, or where you live, waking up in an area you don't remember being at WILL freak you out. After a few seconds of wide-eyed stillness, my mind shook of its cob webs and began to function again.

_'Alright, no panicking... I'm not burning in flames, nor am I drowning… or bleeding, so its not as bad as it CAN be. Let's see here… I feel fine. No pain, no soreness. Good. That means that I'm either physically okay or paralyzed from the neck down… oh god, please not the latter. I can't lay here forever. Or until I starve to death. Or until something comes and eats me... I should reeeeaally check if I'm fine instead of laying down doing nothing. Okay, first, arms. C'mon, I can do this..'._

Slowly, my arms began to regain mobility. Waiting for a minute or so, I tried to make myself sit up. In no time, I succeeded in pushing myself off the ground and into a sitting position.

_'Well that wasn't so hard, was it? At least now you know you're in good condition. Rather lost than broken, eh? Okay. So your body is fine, but what about your mind? Lets test out this noggin…'_

_ 'My name is Edwin Marshall. I'm nineteen years old. I am a to-be senior high school student and I live with my father, Elijah. My dad was a U.S. marine sergeant before being honorably discharged with a purple heart he earned by losing an eye in Afghanistan, costing him his position as a marksman. It also cost him his girlfriend, my mother, because she left him due to his misfortunate lack of a left eyeball. She left me with him while I wasn't even old enough to talk. I only know of her because of him and grandma's stories of how happy they used to be together. I'm glad though, because I have no wish of being associated with anyone so shallow.'_

_ 'Anyhow, dad got back from war, had his girlfriend leave him with a baby, and this apparently didn't even faze him. War didn't seem to leave a (psychological) scar on him, either. He's still the kind, honest, loyal, and hard working man he was, according to grandma. If there is anything I'd thank him for, it would be for instilling those traits into me.'_

_ 'But enough of the soft emotional talk… thought… WHATEVER THIS IS. Onwards! Dad had the fortune of finding a nice, cozy house for just the two of us. He used most of his earnings and benefits on getting that house, leaving him with just enough money to allow him to pursue a dream he had: opening a gun shop. No lie, no bullshit. He opened a gun shop soon after we had settled into the house. It was a surprisingly successful and fruitful business. We've lived comfortably and happily, he and I. We've never fought, all our arguments have been resolved peacefully, and we regard each other as best friends. He even taught me weapon handling and stuff. A while back, he asked me what my thoughts on joining the armed forces was. I was honest and told him that while I believed the skills the marines had to offer would be of great use in life, I could never attempt to kill another man. To my surprise, he smiled wide and gave me a slap on the back, saying that he was proud of my way of thinking. As it turns out, his goal for that conversation was to prevent me from enlisting, which was unnecessary. In addition, he offered to teach me everything he had learned from the marines.'_

_ 'Ten months and countless days worth of hard work later, my dad was (again) patting me in the back and congratulating me on successfully passing marine training. He also recently asked me to work with him in the shop, to which I more than happily accepted. Now, the cool part is this: he got me a gun permit for my eighteenth birthday. That and he allowed me to pick 3 guns from the shop to own and customize. Boy lemme tell you, I was like a kid in a candy shop that afternoon. I couldn't decide for what guns I would make my own for the longest time, but after nearly thirty minutes of walking back and forth, I made my decision. Being a Heckler & Koch whore, I chose the short-barreled model of the HK416, to which I attached an under-barrel grip, a side-rail laser pointer and flashlight, and a holographic sight. All in all, it looked pretty awesome. My other gun choice was the HK45 tactical with a laser pointer and suppressor, and finally an L115A3. I took better care of those guns than my room. I cleaned them every other week thoroughly, or just for relaxation. I would plug in my mp3 with music blasting on headphones, and loose myself in cleaning the weapons.'_

_ 'Okay, that was a good autobiography... why can't I think of things like that for school? Anyway, now that I'm all checked and good to go, let's tend to the matter at hand. WHERE ON SWEET HADES' NAME AM I, AND HOW THE ACTUAL FUCK DID I GET HERE?!'_

"Okay… so last night I was cleaning my guns in my room.. I remember packing them onto the carrying bag to go to the range in the morning, slinging them over my shoulder… then as I walked downstairs to the basement fridge for a drink… I… fell…"

The realization hit me like a .50cal bullet to the crotch. Hard, painful, and mind numbing.

"I … I can't be dead. I'm breathing, aren't I?" I asked no one "no… nononononono... I'M NOT FUCKING DEAD!"

Numerous birds erupted towards the morning skies above me. The gentle, warm breeze was soothing, silence following my grievous scream of denial. The silence did not last, however, as I heard a thundering roar coming from my left. It wasn't too far off, either.

Fear and anxiety rose from within me, and in no time I was up on my feet, backing away slowly and carefully. That is, until I tripped over something. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was none other than my gun bag! It had been lying a scant few yards from where I woke up, and I hadn't taken notice of this until now. Frantically, on my hands and knees, I undid the Velcro straps and pulled down on the zipper to open the bag. Inside were my carbine, attachments and all, as well as my rifle and handgun.

I pulled out the .45 pistol and took out the magazine to check if I had loaded any ammunition into it. What I saw was… strange. Instead of seeing any bullets inside, the interior of the clip was emitting a bright light, almost blinding. I had no idea of what was happening, but whatever roared a few seconds ago was getting close, telling by the way the leaves in the trees were shaking in time with the light thumps felt on the ground. I decided that whatever IT was, it seemed it would take more than a pistol to handle, so I took out my carbine instead and took out the clip, only to discover that the same bright light shone from within the magazine.

"OKAY, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!" I shouted in desperation, only to get a roar as a response. It sounded near. Almost shaking in fear, I knew that if I couldn't fight back, I should be running and hiding.

Spinning around, I tossed the carbine and pistol back into the bag, closed and secured it, and began to sprint as fast as I could from my pursuer. With around 28lbs weighing me down, however, I wasn't going to keep running for long. After almost a full minute of running, I reached what seemed to be the edge of the forest. Breaking through the final few trees, I was greeted to a sight for sore eyes.

"Is that –hah- a hut –hah-?" I half panted to myself, still running ahead.

_'I could hide there from my assailant if I double-time it' _I thought. _'Maybe there I can-'_

My thoughts were interrupted as a roar thundered close behind me, and I felt a powerful shove throw me aside. I sailed a few feet off the ground, away from the house. As I crash landed back onto the (thankfully) soft earth, I rolled a few times before stopping, dizzy as hell, and feeling disturbingly lighter. As I lay on my back in a futile attempt to stop feeling the world spinning around me, I realized the reason why.

_'Shit! My guns! Where are they?!' _the bag was no longer slung over my shoulder, that much was obvious. Also, whatever was attacking me had caught up, and is most likely about to murder me unless I did something.

Jumping onto my feet, I spun around to face what I had been running away from. What awaited me, however, was far from a pretty sight.

"HOLY FUCK, WHAT?!" I cried out in disbelief.

A couple dozen yards before me stood a huge lion-like creature, which also seemed to have huge black-colored bat wings and a huge scorpion stinger. Did I say it was huge? Because it was HUGE, as well as angry-looking. It stared at me, snarling, baring its drooling maw of razor-sharp teeth at me. Whatever this bat-scorpion-lion creature was, it was going to be the end of me.

It snarled one more time, and I began to back away slowly. It followed just as slowly. Stepping back, I felt a hard object tap against the heel of my shoe. Looking down at the object, I saw it was my carbine, carelessly lying on the ground. I looked back at the creature, who was slowly stalking my way, ready to pounce. I slowly inched down to pick it up, but as soon as I took a hold of it, the creature charged.

Time seemed to slow down as I turned off the safety of the gun and raised it to my shoulder, silently praying to god in hopes there was a bullet in the chamber. If I could get a clear shot, I could make that one shot count by scoring it right in that thing's eye. As the holo-sight reticule met the creature's head, I took a deep breath... and pulled the trigger from my crouched stance.

*RATATATATATATATATATATAT*

Over a dozen rounds of 5.56mm ammo fired out of the 416, and straight into the things head and torso. As the bullets impacted, the animal went limp mid-charge, sliding on the ground for a yard or so before coming to a stop not 6 feet from where I knelt. Awestruck, mouth-agape stupor made me retract the magazine out of curiosity. The light still shone, however.

"What in the world…" loading the magazine back in the well, I pulled the hammer... and the click of a bullet entering the chamber followed.

"Okay… sure, I guess..." turning the selective fire to 'semi-auto' I slowly approached the creature, my aim trained on it. I needed to make sure it was really dead, not just wounded. As I came close, I could see a large pool of blood forming underneath it already, confirming to me that it wouldn't cause me any more trouble.

"Though... it could pull off a dick zombie move…" training my aim on its head, I pulled the trigger twice more, piercing its skull and ending the possibility of a zombie-mutant lion spawn.

"I need to find that bag and my other two guns… I don't know if the magical mystical light will provide the ammo for an entire pack of these." I thought out loud. I searched for my missing arsenal, and found it close to where the beast had swatted me. Unfortunately, it appeared the lion-thing had razors for claws, because the bag was TOTALED. The bag had tears along the length of it, rendering it useless. Its contents (my handgun and the rifle) were spilled near it. I checked a large pocket on its outside.

"I hope the slings and holster are still- HA! Here they are. Looks like I have the pistol's suppressor here too. Thank god... hey! My mp3 and my headphones! Sweet!" I attached a wide sling to my L115 and slung it onto my back; I put on the quick-draw holster to my leg and put the pistol there. Finally, I clipped the remaining sling on the carbine, slipped it over my left shoulder, and kept it drawn and ready. Depositing the mp3 and ear buds on one of my pockets, I thought of what came next, which was still finding where on earth I was.

_'Okay... That cottage doesn't look ruined or anything, so there must be someone there…' _deciding to investigate, I carefully walked around the cottage until I found what seemed to be the front door. Taking a more detailed look at the small house, I saw several bird houses all around it, and it had a naturalistic look to it. Walking up to the front door, I held the rifle with my right hand while I knocked with the left.

*knock-knock-knock*

"Umm… excuse me? I would like to apologize for the ruckus, but there was… an animal… that attacked me. There's nothing to fear now, I neutralized the creature. However, I'm lost and I need some directions..." I waited for any response.

"Hello? Anybody ho-" I stopped mid-sentence, hearing a raspy and feminine voice shouting nearby.

"Quick! It came from Fluttershy's cottage! C'mon, hurry!" said the raspy voice. It sounded like a girl about my age.

"Oh my goodness! I hope Fluttershy is okay!" followed another. This one sounded less raspy, a bit more feminine than the previous one.

"My stars! I heard several explosions at one point, didn't you?" this third voice had a very strong British accent to it.

"OhmygoshiknowitwaslikeBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMitwasso ooooooolooud!" this one… I don't even know.

"Alright y'all better start calmin' down! Lest' we wanna do is frighten poor ol' Fluttershy with all this here hollerin'!" this voice sounded very much like a cowgirl's voice.

As the voices grew nearer, I also heard galloping. This made me almost gleeful, seeing as the adrenaline of running then subsequently fighting for my life was fading. I began to jog towards the voices, which were galloping nearer over a hill.

"Oh thank goodness I've found someone! Please, would you help… me…?" I slowed down as I saw what was approaching from the other side of the hill.

"holy fuck… I think I've went bat-shit crazy…"

* * *

_**AN;**_

_**Hey there! you just finished reading the start to my very first fan-fiction ever! i bet there was a ton of stuff wrong there, seeing as this was uploaded at 1:10 am here in hot and sandy New Mexico. writing fan-fictions is pretty new to me, so i would really appreciate if you could leave some constructive criticism! don't go easy on it, though, as i want to learn what it is that i'm failing at, so don't hesitate in being honest and straight forward! i will post shout-outs and answer questions to anyone who leaves either, or both! thank you in advance for reading this, and thank you further if you leave comments or questions. again, those will be answered on the next chapter!**_

_**Adios till then! stay cool, keep it brony!**_


	2. Chapter 2- Novi Mundi

Chapter 2- Novi Mundi

If I had to put together the thoughts and emotions that erupted from within me as I reached the top of the tiny hill onto one word, they would sound something like-

"Sweet Christ what?!"

…Yeah, that's pretty spot on.

Lemme give you a small run-down of what's happened in the past hour. First, I woke up in some forest I've never seen before. Confusion and fear got the best of me, so after an itty-bitty little outburst of emotion, I was assaulted by a nearby monster. It looked like the mutated, freak offspring of a lion, a scorpion, and a bat. While running away, I found my weapons bag, which luckily contained my armaments. After being pursued out of the forest by the beast, I came upon a clearing, in which I spotted a cottage. Before I could reach it, the pursuing animal, which I'm gonna call Rory because all it did was roar, caught up to me and swiped me off the ground. After gathering my bearings, it charged at me. As it did, however, luck decided to smile on me by having my rifle right underneath my feet at that time.

Long story short, I unloaded my 416 into it, which was strange beyond fathoming, because the magazines of both my hk416 and the hk45TAC I had with me did not contain rounds, but instead emitted a strange, bright glow from within them. Still, I survived the encounter, so I wasn't going to fuzz over it yet. What was important at the moment was to reach that cottage and get some questions answered.

After not making contact with whoever resided in the cottage, I heard several voices over the other side of a small hill near the cottage. Walking up it, expecting to find aid, I was disheartened and stupefied upon finding the owners of the voices.

Before me stood 5 small horses. But these horsies looked nothing like your average farm horse. They looked… somewhat human. Their eyes, nose, mouth… they somehow resembled that of a person's. They portrayed emotion, which was varying degrees of fascination, confusion, interest, dread, and a slither of hostility.

That wasn't the end of it, though. Not by a long shot. One of the horses (a cyan coated, rainbow-mane, magenta eyed horse to top it off) had _WINGS_. Unless my Greek mythology was complete shit, this meant it was in fact a Pegasus. Two others appeared to be unicorns; one was white with a shiny and curled indigo mane and tail, while the other had a lavender coat with a violet mane with a purple and a pink streak. The remaining two horses seemed to be "normal" horses, possessing neither wings nor horns. One was light pink with a dark pink fluffy mane, while the remaining one was orange with a blonde mane sporting a Stetson hat.

Now, I don't know about you, but these ponies (they seem too small to be horses, at least.) just flat out scream alien to me. I mean, come on. Talking, pastel colored Unicorns and Pegasi? Where on earth would you find those other than in an LSD trip?

"Twilight, I think that creature was the one that was roaring." said the cyan Pegasus hushed at the lavender unicorn.

"Doesittalk? Canitunderstandus? Whyisitjuststaringatuswithitsmouthopenlikethat?" the pink horse bounced and rambled at over 88 miles per hour.

"Ahem… excuse me? M-my name is Twilight Sparkle…" the lavender pony spoke "… and that over there is our friend Fluttershy's cottage. We heard a series of roars and small explosions, and we came to investigate, but found you instead. What exactly _ARE_ you?"

"Hehehehehe, me? I'm fucking crazy, that's what I am." Seriously, I was almost certain I had gone whack-o. "I mean techni-colored talking horses? Yeah, I lost my mind."

"Excuse me?! Who are you calling horses?! We're PONIES, you uncouth ruffian!" said the white unicorn. The orange horse simply stared at me with defensiveness, as if waiting to strike before I could move a muscle.

"Ah, my bad…" I apologized.

"Anyhow," Twilight, I think was her name, continued. "I've never seen anything like you before, and well, it's kind of odd to see a new kind of intelligent, sentient creature to randomly appear out of nowhere. Would it be of any bother to you if you could accompany me back to my home where you could answer some questions? Then can I thoroughly analyze and catalogue you?"

As soon as the word 'Analyze' surfaced, images of bloody needles, scalpels, and other horrors crossed my mind. Was I really about to be experimented on?

_Yeeaah, not today._

"Well, umm… see, the thing is-" I then turned and ran as fast as my legs would carry me. I raced back to the woods, where I could hopefully hide from the ponies and whatever other horrors I could find.

"Don't worry Twilight! I got'im!" I heard the cyan horse cry out. In no time, it was over me, slipping its fore hooves under my arms as she began to slowly and difficultly ascend in height. "Tell me you didn't seriously think you could escape from the one and only Rainbow Dash!"

I was captured. My feet were a few meters off the ground, and I was struggling to get her off of me. She was heading toward the rest of the group of ponies. There was no way in hell I was going to let some mythical creature do experiments on me.  
_  
'Well if you can't go in flight, you gotta fight!'_ I decided that if I couldn't run away, I would fight them off. First, I had to break free of this Pegasus, which at the height we were, could end bad.

_'Alright.. get ready, Edwin. Your dad trained you for this. ENGAGE!'_

My arms twisted and I shook free. Before I could fall, I took a hold of the pegasus' head. In one swift and quick motion, I pulled myself up, and made myself parallel to the ground and kneed the cyan Pegasus in the forehead, disorienting it. Its wings went limp, and we fell. I landed hard on my feet, and combat rolled forward to carry the momentum. As I stood up, so did the Pegasus, who looked ready to murder me.

"OH, YOU WANNA PLAY ROUGH?! LET'S DANCE THEN!" it charged at me faster than I could react. As it tackled me to the ground, its left hoof pounded my face. Then the right. As the left came down on me again, I caught it with my right and pushed it away, making the pony lose its balance. While it fell onto me, I gritted my teeth and thrust my head up hard, head butting her in the snout. As it reared back and cried out in pain, holding its snout, I pulled myself away from underneath her, and with both my legs, kicked her hard in the stomach, away from me.

"RAINBOW DASH!" I heard the other ponies scream out, followed by galloping.

Jumping onto my feet, I saw 'Rainbow Dash' limply standing on her wobbling hooves, her lower lip bleeding. She was crouched low, similar to a tiger ready to pounce.

"so-hah- you scored some hits on me. Big deal, I'm still –hah- gonna kick your flank!" Once more, she charged. This time though, I was ready. I tucked in my arm, exposing my shoulder, and half ducked. I knew it was risky, but it had to be done.

I was going to shoulder charge an already charging enemy.

Turning the roles in a fight was never something I knew how to do, but something told me it was necessary. As she flew towards me, I stiffened up as much as I could, and once she was too close to be able to evade, I dove into her, shoulder to body.

The impact was effective, but not as I hoped. All I achieved was to stop her dead in her tracks instead of knocking her down. Despite this, the crash opened up a window of opportunity I knew how to use. She was standing in her two hind legs, and she seemed dazed. I swiftly turned behind her, hugged her abdomen, and arched my back as much as I could, bringing her with me until her upper back, neck and the back of her head viciously crashed against the ground.

_'Suplex, bitch!'_

Rolling away, I jumped up and brought up my fists and prepared for another assault… only to find her laying on her back with her legs and hooves stretched outwards. She was knocked out.

Panting, I half relaxed. The threat was over. I was now free to run-

"RRRAAAAAGH!'

I felt two trains run me over and throw me forwards. I flew over the unconscious Pegasus and into the ground, writhing in pain.

"Applejack!" I heard Twilight shout. "Cover us while we get Dash out of here!"

I could barely stand up. I felt ran over, and there was a creeping darkness clouding the edges of my view. I was about to pass out.

_'No! You gotta stay vertical! Fight! Don't fall! Whatever you do, DON'T. FALL.'_

"Aright you big ol' monster! T'aint NOPONY had gone n' hurt mah friends n' walked away unhurt!" I heard the cowpony shout. "Y'all gon' wish you never messed with us!"

No longer was I in condition to fight. Whatever she had done knocked the steam right out of me, making it difficult to even stand. Considering my options, I knew I only had one more way out.

_'This is bad… I hope this isn't a mistake.'_

I faced the cowpony, who was trotting towards me. In a flash, I drew my hk45 handgun from its holster, pulled the hammer and aimed at her head,

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" I shouted. She didn't slow down. Shifting my aim to a large rock in front of her, I warned her again. "I Said Freeze!" She, however, showed no signs of stopping.

***_POP*_**

I pulled the trigger, and a .45ACP FMJ round shot into the rock, utterly destroying the large stone. This finally caught her attention, as she halted and stared at the pulverized rock in horror. I re-trained the iron sights onto her forehead. At about twenty feet away, calling a headshot with this weapon 'messy' would be an understatement.

"Good. Unless you want your head to end like that there rock, I suggest you back away. Sloooowly." I warned her.

"Y'all… listen to what it's sayin and back away gently… we don't want any more trouble, alright, creature? We're leavin'." The orange mare began to back away slowly, as did the rest of the ponies.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" a blood-curling scream erupted out of nowhere, drawing my attention.

"FLUTTERSHY!" the remaining four ponies shouted. I turned to see a yellow Pegasus weeping and sobbing loudly near the corpse of the animal.

Big mistake on my part.

I felt my handgun be pulled viciously from me, though my grip endured. As I flew towards the ponies, I noticed a purple glow surrounding both my gun and Twilight's horn. The glow disappeared, and I was left flying towards a frightened purple unicorn.

As I barreled into her, I felt a sharp jab to my stomach. The pain was unbearable, and only worsened as we both skidded on the ground after the crash. Sliding to a halt, I saw the three conscious ponies run towards her. She stood up and shook her head, but froze as a couple of drops of what appeared to be blood fell on her nose. As I agonizingly stood up, she looked at me, then her eyes went wide.

"Oh no! Nononononono! Sweet Celestia, what have I done?!" she frantically screamed.

When those words came out of her mouth, a burning pain flared from my left side. Gritting my teeth, I looked down at myself… and found a giant red stain on my shirt.

_'no… oh god no…'_

Tenderly pressing a hand against the stain, I felt something warm ooze into my palm. Blood. I had been stabbed.

A light breeze blew against me, and it was all it took to make me lose my balance. I stumbled back and fell to a sitting position, still covering my bleeding wound with my hand. Out of nowhere I felt light headed… weak… cold. The darkness was once more seeping into my view, and I was growing in exhaustion. My vision was slowly blurring, and my hearing began to leave me. I could barely make out faint galloping, approaching me. As I collapsed onto my back, looking at the noon sky, I thought of just how much had happened since waking up. I relived every second of the day in a flash, from waking to this very moment. A cough drew blood, which trailed down my cheek.

"*cough* heh… dads gonna be disappointed at me… for going out like this…" I mumbled to no-one. My head turned sideways, allowing me to see the oncoming mini-stampede of ponies.

"sorry pops…" I sighed out, and let my eyelids begin to close. The last things I could hear were the gentle breeze swaying the trees, the onrushing group of ponies still galloping, and a sudden pop, followed by a short-lived silence, which was broken by Twilight's voice.

"Prin…ess …tia!"

Her voice sounded miles away as I finally gave in.

* * *

_**Aaaaaand that's chapter two! hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed typing it! i wanna give a shout out to Epicgoldfish200 and DarkLuigiForever for reviewing and giving some nice feedback on the story! Thanks! youguise are too cool!**_

_**Chapter 3 is currently being worked on as well, but i estimate it'll be twice as long as this one! My little way of saying "Im sorry im poking butt with the updates!" hopefully it'll be uploaded by friday! please continue to read, review, favorite, or WHATEVER it is you beauties do xD**_

**_See ya soon! _**

**_~Ed._**

**_Fun moment of the day (yeah im doing these)- "SWEET GOD EDGAR I'M GONNA PUNCH YOU IN THE THROAT"~ My friend raven after i drew marylin manson kissing lady gaga._**


	3. Chapter 3- Awakening

Chapter 3- The Awakening

_"Overlord, this is Banshee. I'm in position, over." I said into my headset._

_I was currently crouching behind a thick bush, across the street of a supposed high school building in war-torn Japan. Smoke poured into the night skies in the distant city behind me. Where I was exactly, I had no idea. Right now, I only knew two things._

_One, stay alive._

_Two, carry out the mission at hand._

_"Banshee, this is Sergeant Elijah-" spoke an all-too familiar voice through the speaker of my communications headset._

_"Dad? You're going to be my operator?" I asked incredulously._

_"That's an affirmative, son. I can't have my boy die, and I'll be damned if I'm to sit by and do nothing. Now listen, this is a rescue mission, so just reach the VIP and get the hell to the extraction point before anything goes wrong, got it?" said my worried father._

_I could feel his concern through the speaker… it was a heartwarming feeling, which only pushed me to do better and return safely to my father's arms._

_"Roger that, sergeant. Mission objective: Reach VIP, neutralize tangos to clear a safe passage, and reach extraction point without raising any alarm. Any useful data on the VIP?" I inquired. Truth be told, I knew nothing about whose hide I was rescuing from capture._

_"VIP is a female, suspected political figure of some sorts." Was my father's short response._

_"Alright, I'm going in. Requesting radio silence, sir." I asked. Cold as it might sound, the less distractions the better._

_"Granted. Good luck son, be careful."_

_I had been outfitted lightly but appropriately to carry out the mission. Wearing a black night-ops jumper suit, matching vest, boots, and balaclava, I could blend into the shadows easily. Add a pair of NV goggles and a suppressed HK45 and a tactical karambit knife, and I was ready to take this mission on._

_The plan was as follows: Enter through the door on the gymnasium, sneak my way inside the main building while neutralizing any tangos I encounter. Intel and satellite image suggested the captive was being held somewhere in the second level of the left wing and counted roughly around twenty armed hostiles, so it would be a bit of an excursion. Once I freed the captive, I would immediately break radio silence to call for exfiltration. The evac-zone was a click north from the high school, deep within a forested area. Once contacted, I would have around fifteen minutes to reach the extraction point. After that, it'd be a straight flight to a safe area, and the mission would be a success._

_"phheewww…" I slowly breathed out. "Going in."_

_I quietly and swiftly sprinted across the street, and took cover behind the outer wall of the high school. I withdrew my handgun and attached the silencer while lowering and activating the night vision goggles. As everything took a green-yellowish look around me, I crouched low and walked along the wall. A lightly burnt flyer was lying near the entrance, and curiosity took the better of me. I picked it up, and read it out quietly._

_"Welcome to Seika high school…" I muttered quietly. I could imagine this place previous to the war. A busy, bustling high school full to the brim with hormone-drunken teenagers…_

_I gave a quiet sigh. That was before. Now, it was a hollow shell of what it used to be. The only occupants in it now were armed hostile forces and a single, innocent woman held against her will for unknown reasons. That was all about to change soon._

_Crouching low, I reached the front gate. Peering over the end of the wall, my night vision goggles showed four man-like glowing blobs of orange patrolling in front of the entrance to the building, a couple of yards from me._

_'Four hostiles armed with automatic rifles.' I said, taking a mental note. On the U shaped rooftop stood two sniper rifle wielding men. They too were walking around on their vantage points, keeping an eye from above._

_I waited until they turned around to show their backs to me, and when they did, I made a mad dash to the right side, towards the back of the school where the gymnasium was. No one had seen nor heard me, fortunately enough. I reached the back and began to look for a way in. Luckily for me, there was an open window that was accessible. A quick jump and climb over later, I was inside. The gymnasium was as average as it could get, pretty much what you'd expect for a gym._

**_*3 minutes later*_**

_The main floor was surprisingly empty. If the sat-scans were correct, and based on simple calculations, that meant there were about fourteen soldiers crammed into the remaining two floors, while the remaining six guarded the outside. That wouldn't be much of a problem unless they were all in the same room. After a quick assessment, I decided that a close quarters encounter would go smoother with my blade than with my pistol. Holstering it, I withdrew my karambit instead. The short, double-edged, claw-like blade was as deadly as it was versatile, and it was best used in tight environments like these._

_Up the stairs, I spotted a hostile soldier with his back to me. I approached him with outmost stealth and silence, stalking my prey. He had no clue of my presence, and soon, he'd be dead._

_'aaaaand… GO'_

_I covered his mouth while simultaneously driving the curved blade into the back of his neck. The blade being arched, the stab actually curved into the bottom of his skull, killing him instantly and quietly. He went limp into my arms, and I dragged him into a nearby janitor closet. I deposited him noiselessly on the floor and closed the door._

_'One down, thirteen to go.' I thought. I carried on down the hall, checking every room silently. I was a ghost, a phantom of the night, with the sole purpose of taking the lives of those who interfered with my rescue._

_Quietly sliding open a door, I was surprised to be greeted by a large group of armed men… sleeping on the ground. I counted ten men, all loudly snoring. They had arranged themselves in two rows of five, less than a foot apart from each other, all heads near the center of the room._

_'This mission just got too easy…' I mentally laughed. The suppressed pistol, with its ten rounds of capacity, would make short work of these poor bastards. The trick would be to dispatch all of them quickly and in a single shot before one of them woke up. I had an idea. It was dangerous, and I'd have to be quick about it._

_Silently, I positioned myself in the back of the room, close to all the snoring men. I stood to my normal height, and aimed at the head of the first soldier in the row to my left… and pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced his temple, and he stopped snoring. Not waiting another second, I repeated the action until the entire left row had been eliminated. I repeated the action with the right row, but I ran into trouble with the last soldier. Having been the closest to me, he must've been woken up after I began with the right row, and he began to sit up. Frantically and admittedly panicked, I reached for my karambit and slashed his throat before he made noise at the sight of his dead comrades._

_I made a quick count of the soldiers I had killed._

_'There was the one at the stairs, plus these ten bozos… that means eleven dead, six outside and oblivious. Seventeen soldiers, out of the equation. That leaves three, which are more than likely guarding the girl. I need to find where she's being kept…' I thought to myself._

_I crouched and stalked out the door, replacing the empty magazine and inserting a fresh clip. I walked a few yards down the hallway, and then turned right. I found two of the remaining soldiers standing guard in front of a classroom. I took cover around the corner, thinking intently._

_'Guess I found our VIP…' I thought. There was no way I could neutralize the two guards and simply walk in to rescue the hostage. There was surely another soldier near her, and at the sight of me, would end her life. I had to think of a way to lure him out…_

_At that moment, the third and final soldier stepped out of the room and joined its compatriots. I hadn't noticed before, but they all wore Chinese People's Liberation Army patches on their ACU's and helmets. Why had they attacked and invaded Japan?_

_'Doesn't matter, they're hostiles and that's all that's important.' I scolded myself. Suddenly, the soldier that emerged spoke._

_"Lǐmiàn de nǚhái shì ānjìng de." (The girl is quiet inside) said the emerging soldier with an air of relief_

_"Guānyú shíjiān! Wǒ bùnéng xiāngxìn tā rěnzhe āidǎ!" (About time! I cannot believe she endured the beating!) Roughly replied the second soldier, displaying annoyance._

"Wǒ zhīdàole, wǒ de guānjié hé shǒuzhǎng jí qiú téngtòng." (I know. My hands hurt from beating her) Replied the first soldier.

_So they were beating her. Based on what I made out, she could be seriously hurt in that room. I had to get her out A-S-A-fucking-P. Seeing all three soldiers there, I chose to let loose and shoot them down quickly. I took aim, held my breath, and pulled the trigger until the magazine was spent. All three soldiers dropped dead, giving me free passage to the room where the hostage was held. I ran, sensing no more immediate danger. I reached the door, slid it open, and stepped inside._

_That's when I saw her._

_She was lying on her side, and curled into a fetal position but with her hands tied behind her back. Even on that position, I could tell she was quite short and slim. She was trembling, and sobs were heard, but what got to me the most was that she was wearing school uniform, a tattered and snagged lime-green sweater, a dirty once-white blouse with a filthy red bow, a ripped and dirtied brown skirt, and long black socks that almost reached her knees. She must've attended this school before the attack._

_I approached her trembling form, and her sobs became louder and a bit more desperate when she heard me reach her._

_"S-shite kudasai... Mō watashi o kizutsukeru koto wa arimasen... W-watashi wa anata o kou..." (P-please... don't hurt me anymore... I-I beg you...) she whimpered to me. Her voice was sweet and young, confirming that she was indeed merely a teen._

_"Sore wa, misu daijōbuda. Anata wa, anzen-sei o eru anata ni gai o ataenai tame ni watashi wa koko ni iru yo. Watashi wa nani mo mō anata o kizutsukeru shinai koto o yakusoku suru. Eigo o hanasemasu ka? Watashi no nihonjin wa hijō ni kagira rete iru, to watashi wa anata to comunicate dekiru yō ni suru hitsuyō ga arimasu."_

_(It's alright, Miss. I'm here to get you to safety, not harm you. i promise nothing will hurt you anymore. Do you speak English? My Japanese is very limited, and I need to be able to communicate with you.) I replied quietly and calm, trying my best to soothe her._

_"Y-yes I do speak English…" she replied. She was still shaking like a leaf in autumn, but her sobs had died down to sniffles._

_"Great, great. Listen, I'm corporal Edwin Marshall, U.S. Army rangers. How about you? What's your name?" I asked, trying to make small talk to calm her while I helped her sit up._

_"m-may you please remove the bag from my head? It's hard to breathe in it…" she timidly requested._

_"Of course, miss. Are you harmed? Do you need medical attention?" I asked while removing the sack from her head. As the bag came off, I managed to finally see her face._

_She was beautiful… her pale white skin, while bruised and slightly cut from the abuse, made an amazing job of making her amber colored eyes stand out. Her straight black hair reached slightly below her shoulders. She stared deep into my eyes with her beautiful amber ones. There was a sparkle of innocence and honesty in them, but they were nearly entirely drowned by her slowly flowing tears. This was going to scar her, and I was sure something in her would change forever._

_'Oh my god… how could they harm someone so… beautiful…'_

_"m-my name is Misaki Ayuzawa… i- I think I might've hurt my ankle… the soldier stepped on it after he finished beating me. It hurts…" she said through teary eyes._

_"well, miss Misaki, I will take care of that as soon we reach the helicopter. For now, let's get you out of here" I replied, trying to make her feel better. She looked at me for a few seconds before she looked like she was about to cry again. However, she threw herself at me and embraced me in a tight hug, her face to my neck. She was crying hard once more. I hugged her back and tried softly patting her head to comfort her._

_"Thank you so so much… I was certain I was going to die here… thank you dearly for saving me.." she sobbed into my neck._

_"It's my pleasure, miss. Now, let's get you out of here." I confidently replied. I activated my comms and spoke. "Overlord, this is Banshee. VIP secured, requesting evac."_

_"Banshee, this is Overlord. How is she?" asked my father._

_"She's fine. A few cuts and bruises plus an injured ankle, but I will treat those once we board the chopper." I said looking back at her and smiling, making her smile sweetly herself. She mouthed out a Thank You._

_"Roger that, Banshee. Chopper is Oscar-mike. Transferring comms now."_

_"Banshee, this is Vulture Oh- Niner. ETA is fifteen minutes." Said a the pilot of the evac Blackhawk._

_"Roger, moving out." I said. As the radio silenced, I began to move quickly. The point of extraction was about a kilometer away, and I had no time to waste. Usually, I could run that kilometer in minutes, but I had to be quiet and careful with the girl on my back. She was very light, which made her an ease to carry. We left the school through a back entrance and made our way into the woods._

*_**Twenty minutes later, aboard the Blackhawk**__*_

_"Is it feeling better, misaki?" I asked. I was taping her hurt ankle after having applied analgesic. It had suffered from a light sprain. We successfully exfiltrated from the town and were currently on our way to a U.S Army base in South Korea._

_"Y-yes, thank you very much." She shyly replied._

_"No problem." I merrily said. I noticed the dark circles under her eyes, and how she was swaying to and fro worrisomely. "Miss Misaki, I think it'd be best for you if you slept. You look like you haven't slept in ages…"_

_"w-well I could try, b-but…" she trailed off, looking away embarrassed._

_"What is it, Misaki?" I asked, genuinely concerned._

_"Would you mind if I slept on your shoulder? I'd feel much safer…" she asked hesitantly._

_I gave the sweetest smile I could as I switched seats to sit next to her._

_"Of course not, miss." I quietly said to her. She rested her head on my shoulder and gave a content sigh. Goodness, was she beautiful… having her sleep on my shoulder made me a bit queasy. As I looked at her snuggle up to me, I felt the need to wrap an arm around her, so I did. Her eyes closed, a small blush turned her white cheeks into a light shade of pink._

_"Lieutenant Edwin?" she asked me_

_"Yes, Misaki?" I asked lowly and quietly._

_"You can wake up now." She said._

_"W-wha-" was all I managed to stutter out before everything around us began to shine blindingly._

* * *

_*beep* _

_*beep* _

_*beep* _

My eyes began to slowly open. Everything was blurry at first, but after a few seconds, I was able to re-focus. That's when I began to take note of where I was.

I was in a small hospital room, simple and plain. A small window on the wall to the left was open and let in a cool breeze. It seemed to be a bit late in the afternoon.

_'Oh thank god. That was all just a dream. A bad, bad dream… heheh, talking unicorns. I must've busted my skull pretty hard.'_

I sighed out, and took notice of the painful, arid dessert that was my throat. I needed some water, STAT.

"E-excuse me? Nurse?" I called out loudly. It was a pain, but thankfully a nurse had heard me.

"I'll be there momentarily!" she called back.

_'Man, that stuff was scary. Never thought a unicorn would actually shank with their horn… wow, this bed is tiny, I barely fit in! I think I'd rather sit up anyway' _I began to sit up, but something held me down by my wrists.

Restraints.

My arms, legs, and mid-section were all tied and bound by black straps. Panicking, I began to struggle against them in an attempt to break free. If there was one thing I could not stand, was being held down. It made me feel like I was about to be butchered, or something of the sort. I was grunting and pulling and squirming on the bed, then couldn't take it anymore.

"NUUUUUUURSE!" I screamed.

The door was flung open, but instead of being greeted by a nurse or a doctor, I was greeted by something that disturbed me more than the bounds. At the doorway, with a scared and startled expression, stood a white pony with pink hair and light blue eyes. Atop her mane sat a nurse's hat. I stared at her with wide-eyed shock.

"Wh-What is it?! Are you okay?!" She cried frantically. She trotted closer to me and held a hoof to my forehead. "you're temperature's fine… you don't seem to have hurt yourself… what happened?"

"p-p-ponies d-don't talk…" I tremblingly said.

"Ponies don't talk? Hahah! What has you saying that? All ponies talk, unless there is a physical or psychological-slash-emotional impediment…" she said thoughtfully. "Anyhow, my name is nurse redheart. I've been your nurse for the past two days." She introduced herself at me, smiling sweetly.

"W-wait, two days? I've been unconscious for two days!?" I asked bewilderedly.

"If it weren't for twilight sparkle, you would've been unconscious permanently!" she remarked. There was a knock on the opened door, and we both turned to see said purple unicorn standing there, smiling nervously. "Speaking of which, Twilight, along with her friends, are here for visit. I'll leave you all to your business. Please call me if you need anything."

As she stepped out, Twilight came into the room. Tailing her where the other five ponies I had encountered outside of the cottage.

"H-hello…" twilight greeted me nervously.

"You stabbed me." I stated drily. Her ears went down, and she shrunk back a bit. She looked at me with large, apologetic eyes.

"I-I'm sorry… I was just trying to take away that thing that you used to destroy the rock with… I saw how easily the rock was leveled, and when you threatened Applejack with it… I just thought I could take it away and try to calm everypony down…" she trailed off with tears forming in her eyes.

"'Calm Down'? You wanted to experiment on me and keep me in a catalogue like a lab rat!" I accused. At this, she began to speak a bit quickly.

"N-No! I wouldn't want to ruin the first encounter with a new species! What I meant was to take you to my library where I could ask you questions about your species, about you, and where you come from! I would never perform experiments on anypony!" she defended quickly.

"Still, any creature will enter a fight or flight mode when felt threatened! You threatened to 'analyze' me, so I tried running away from the danger! All this could've been avoided, but nooooo, fucking little Miss Skittles over there-" I looked at the cyan pony "-decided to capture me and drag me against my will!" I countered.

"Hey! My name is RAINBOW DASH, got that?!" she declared.

"Screw you; I'll knock your ass unconscious again if you mess with me one more time!" I growled.

"And ah'll buck you so hard y'alls Ancesters will cringe!" the orange cowpony replied.

"STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW, ALL OF YOU!" Shouted the little yellow Pegasus. She had a sweet voice, even though she had just screamed at us in the same fashion a mother would to her fighting children.

"Just listen to yourselves. Threatening each other with physical harm like that is unacceptably rude!" she scolded us in a much lower voice. Despite her low, super feminine tone, her scolding made me think about how I've acted. She walked over to me and undid the strap to my left restraint.

"Now, we can all talk this out peacefully without harming each other." She turned to them. "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, would you please apologize to the creature?"

"WHAT?!" they both exclaimed in disbelief.

"Fluttershy, for crying out loud!" Rainbow Dash argued "why would I apologize after what he did to me?!"

"Well, Dash, how would you react if somepony began to forcefully drag you towards something or somepony you were running from?" 'Fluttershy' challenged boldly.

"W-Well… I- UGHH, fiiine!" she gave in and walked up to my bed. "Look, creature-"

"Edwin." I said simply.

"Huh?"

"My name's Edwin." I repeated.

"Fine… I'm sorry, Edwin. I apologize for what I did…" she said in an air of annoyance.

Now, trust me, I knew how little she meant those words, but… I began to think: if this all happens to be actually real, I don't wanna be the douche bag that everyone (or everypony, in this case) hated. So, I did what I thought was right at the moment.

"*sigh* i-I'm sorry too, Rainbow Dash, for hurting you. I know I was scared and all, but I should've controlled myself instead of going all 'Swing first, ask later' mode." I apologized, being honest.

She looked skeptically at me, and then her expression softened. She offered a hoof for a hand (hoof?)-shake. "No hard feelings?" she asked.

I shook her hoof. "Nah, no hard feelings"

"Aww that was great, Rainbow! Now Applejack, is there something you wanna say?" Fluttershy asked Applejack.

"Yeh, there is actually." Was her response. She then strode to my bed and looked deep into my eyes… menacingly.

"You evar lay a hoof or whatever the hay y'alls limbs are on any of my friends or family, and you'll regret it dearly." She growled. She then began to walk away.

"Applejack! That was so rude and mean!" cried Fluttershy.

"Its fine... uhm... Fluttershy was it?" she nodded. "Anyways, its fine. Don't force her to do something she doesn't feel like. Not like I give enough of a damn to beg for her forgiveness. However…" I looked at twilight, who had at some point in the midst of all this cried without anyone notice. "Twilight, I'm sorry for making you feel bad about what happened… if it makes you feel better, I agree to whatever it is that you asked me to do." I comforted.

"Oh… well, thank you… would you mind if we started today? I mean, we'll do the questions today, seeing as you still have until tomorrow until you're released. We can do the science stuff then" she offered sniffling.

"Of course, whatever you see fit." I replied pleasantly. _'some Q and A won't hurt, anyways.'_

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!" the all-pink pony shouted with force to shatter the world. "Twi, don't you think we should introduce ourselves first?"

"Ohmigosh! I forgot! Ah-ahem… well, my name's Twilight Sparkle, you already know Rainbow Dash, that's Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and that's Fluttershy." She gestured to the cyan, orange, white, pink, and yellow ponies respectively.

"Well… my name's Edwin, but you guys can call me Ed." I said with a friendly tone.

"Now that we're all introduced, let's start with the questions, shall we?" asked Twilight excitedly.

"Very well, Shoot." I smirked.

"Oh! Me! Memememememememe!" Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and bounced up and down.

"Alright, alright, Pinkie Pie, ask away, hahahaha" I gave her the turn.

"My friends call me Pinkie, so that means YOU should call me Pinkie!" she said excitedly "anyhow, what exactly are you?"

"Well, I'm a human. An evolved primate, if you want. Our scientific name is _homo-sapiens" _I answered as twilight took note. Rainbow raised her hoof, and I nodded her ahead.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"I'm nineteen years old." I answered. She nodded, and at the same time, Fluttershy timidly raised her hoof, which I nodded to.

"What can you tell us about humans?" she asked.

"well… humans are sentient and intelligent omnivorous creatures… I don't really know nor can I represent all of humanity, but I think we're a pretty violent species also. We're really prone to breaking out into conflicts and wars. We've a strong sense of curiosity and creativity, which have allowed our gigantic technological advances. A lot of advances are in the medical field, others are in the educational field, but no technological field grows like the weapons and military fields do. Weapons are always being improved on or made anew, each generation of weapons is worse than the past one. But, humans are not all rotten. We know when teamwork is needed, and when it is, all nations contribute." I stated.

"Do you have family?" asked rarity

"My dad."

"… that's it?' rarity hesitated.

"mhm." I answered. Twilight raised her hoof while taking note of all the things that had been mentioned.

"Yes, twilight?" I motioned her.

"Well… I have a _few _questions… stuff for the records…" she said slowly.

"Go right ahead Twilight, I'll answer everything I can answer." I reassured.

"Okay! First question…"

***Three hours later***

"… and then you add bacon strips and bacon strips and bacon strips. And if you don't like bacon strips, then you're wrong in the head." I finished, snapping my fingers in a Z formation. For the past few hours, Twilight and her friends had asked me all there is to ask. Things from anatomy and science to religion, politics, beliefs, traditions, customs, hobbies, likes, dislikes... absolutely EVERYTHING had been talked about.

"Woooow. This is a load of information! Thank you soooo much for accepting to this!" she said excitedly, closing her fifth spent notepad.

Looking outside the window, I saw the sun begin to set. _'whoa, time flew…' _Nurse Redheart stepped into the room.

"Excuse me, I'm afraid visiting hours are over." She said regrettably. A loud "Awwww" emanated from all the mares in the room.

"Don't worry girls; he'll be released tomorrow in the morning. For now, however, I think he'd really appreciate it if he could be granted some rest." She said

_'I'm being released tomorrow? Wasn't I stabbed? And where's all my stuff? I've been draped in a hospital robe all day and nobody even bothered to let me know where my crap is!'_

"Actually nurse, I kinda have a question… well, more like a request AND a question." I began.

"Go right ahead, Edwin" she told me.

"Well… first of all, how am I being released tomorrow if I was stabbed and all that stuff?" I asked

"Well, you could've been released earlier, but Dr. Stables said his healing magic and your body 'were as compatible with each other as an oil fire and a bucket of water'. He did have trouble using a healing spell on your wound, so he resorted to sowing the wound shut, stopping the bleeding, cleaning and disinfecting the wound once more, and used a process acceleration spell to accelerate the rate of cellular regeneration and wound healing. He made a few week's worth of healing occur in a few hours or so. You've been kept unconscious to assure the healing was successful and thorough, which it was." She finished.

"Wow. Healing magic. Dat shiz cray…" I said stupefied and awestruck. "and well… for my request… I'd like absolutely every single of my possessions handed to me, please." I asked politely.

"Yes, I do believe your metal contraption thingies are being kept in a safe downstairs. I will bring them immediately. As for your clothes however…" she looked at the white unicorn, Rarity.

"Well, darling, I thought that maybe if I washed and repaired your clothes, you might come to a peaceful agreement with us, but apparently that wasn't necessary." She smiled and all her friends nodded. "Still, the fashion predator in me has sensed a new type of clothing to be made… what I'm trying to say is that while I did repair and wash your clothing I'd appreciate it if you'd allow me to experiment with your specie's clothing by letting me make you some new outfits. The challenge of new clothes being designed and made is too big for me to pass up…"

"Well… geez, miss rarity… I don't know what to say… I really appreciate your generosity, but are you sure?" I told her. I was utterly touched by how generous she was with me, despite seeing me beat one of her friends unconscious.

"Oh, of course darling! There's never a thing as 'too much' knowledge when it comes to clothes design! A new species opens a new world! I insist!" she assured me.

"Well, I truly appreciate the gift, miss rarity. Just two quick things, however. One, I beg you don't exert too much time and effort into creating outfits for me. I would hate to see you burn yourself out because of it. Second, I WILL pay you back somehow. And I won't take a no for an answer." I warned her playfully.

"Very well, thank you for being such a gentlecolt! *giggle* oh my stars! The ideas are rushing in already!" she said excitedly

"Girls, it's about time we leave. We'll all meet here early tomorrow to show him around Ponyville, okay?" said Twilight. All the girls nodded and filed out, calling out Goodbye's and See you tomorrows. As the last mare filed out, nurse redheart strolled in with a medical cart, which held my weapons and mp3+headphones.

"Well, mister Edwin, here are all your possessions. What are they anyhow?" she looked at them quizzically.

"They're survival tools from where I come from." I said simply.

"oh, Alright." She said, pleased with my seventy-five percent truthful answer.

"Nurse, would you please hand me the smallest object on that table, plus the thick black tiara thingy with the two muffs?" I said as I gestured to the mp3 and the headphones respectively.

"Of course" she said as she han-hoofed them to me. She stared at me funny as I plugged in the headphones and put them on and pressed play. "What do those do?"

"Oh, these are sleeping muffs. This is a fancy charm that goes into them" I lied, not feeling the energy to explain technology and portable music to her.

"Very well, goodnight, Edwin." She said as she left. She turned off the light as she stepped out, as well as closing the door. Finally alone, I had the time to comfortably reflect on everything so far. The fact that I was now nowhere near my father for god knows how long hit hard, and I began to feel depressed. Tears formed at the edges of my eyes as I shrunk into myself, nearly crying.

Never before had I felt so much like singing. Dad said I had an awesome skill with singing, but I never quite saw any point in singing somewhere other than whilst showering. Tonight was different, however. I thought about making an exception this once, and the choice was made as the music began.

_**(go to watch?v=o5aibZNVqS4)**_

_Can you hear the silence?  
Can you see the dark?  
Can you fix the broken?  
Can you feel... can you feel my heart?_

Can you help the hopeless?  
Well, I'm begging on my knees,  
Can you save my bastard soul?  
Will you wait for me?

I'm sorry brothers,  
So sorry lover,  
Forgive me father,  
I love you mother.

Can you hear the silence?  
Can you see the dark?  
Can you fix the broken?

Can you feel my heart? 

_Can you feel my heart? _

_Can you feel my heart?_

I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone.  
I long for that feeling to not feel at all.  
The higher I get, the lower I'll sink.  
I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim.

_I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone.  
I long for that feeling to not feel at all.  
The higher I get, the lower I'll sink.  
I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim._

_I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone.  
I long for that feeling to not feel at all.  
The higher I get, the lower I'll sink.  
I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim._

_Can you feel my heart?_

Can you hear the silence?  
Can you see the dark?  
Can you fix the broken?  
Can you feel... can you feel my heart?

Tears and sobs fully took hold, and I was crying hard. All I could think of was dad.

"Dad… w-where am I...i…"I sobbed out. "I wanna go h-home…"

* * *

Pain. Pain like she had never felt before invaded her heart. She slowly and silently retired her ear from the door, wiping away cascading tears, elicited from Edwin's song. She had no words as to what to feel, her thoughts and emotions having been raped by the lyrics that she had heard not ten seconds ago. She didn't think it was equinely possible for somepony to feel such loneliness and sadness, but she had been tragically mistaken. He not only felt like he did… but he _hid _it. Why would anypony do that to themselves? It made no sense to her. There had to be something she could do…

"Perhaps _they_ could…" she sniffled out. She knew who could help, all she needed was for morning to come. As she slowly walked away, falling into a small depression herself, her parting thoughts were how she really didn't feel like looking him in the eye without wanting to break down to tears could be possible.

Leaving the hallway, she could still hear his sobbing through the walls.

* * *

**_Welp, there ya have it. To be completely honest, i was reeeally doubtful about how this chapter was going to turn out. That, plus constant interruptions, and i was this /)~~(\ close to giving up on it for today, but thanks to people like DarkLuigiForever, i was able to get this out. Luigi, i wanna say you're officially a bro xD_**

**_i tried some new things for this chapter; mainly a gigantic reference, a musical scene, and feeeeeels. i'm not sure how i did with that, but i was crying as i wrote the final scene, so that means something, right? _**

**_anyway, please leave any critique and suggestions/ ideas for the near future of TBH. Also, whoever gets the blatant reference i mentioned earlier will recieve a giant shout out!_**

Hint: Maids

**_see ya soon!_**

**_~Ed_**

**_Quote of the day: "HEY, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAD THE MUSCLE SPASM WHEN I TOUCHED YOUR NECK!" my friend raven as i wiped at tomato sauce stains in a white shirt i wore today._**


	4. Chapter 4- Reveal upon Arrival

For over twelve hours I did the exact same thing. For over twelve hours, I found myself unable to look away from the hospital window that gave me a small view of the skies of this strange new place. I was awake until dawn, entranced by the night. This wasn't the place I called home. Already, I felt I shouldn't even be here. Emotions had ravaged through me a few hours ago, but I had settled down. Now I was contemplating the reason of me being here. I finally found myself turning to lie on my back, facing the ceiling.

So entranced was I in thought, that I didn't notice the fact that it was already morning until I heard birds chirp outside. The chirping somehow provided a sense of comfort and familiarity, and it uplifted my spirits. I stood up from the bed and walked towards the window, clicking all my joints and stretching as I went. I reached the window and drew it open until I could stick my head out.

The air was fresh and cool, carrying with it a calm and soothing breeze. I let myself relax and enjoy this. The wind caressed my face and ran through my hair. It was a sensation I was deeply enjoying. As my eyes closed and my mind cleared, I began to think more.

_'Who says this is a bad thing? If these ponies were nice enough to not let me bleed out and die, maybe it would be for the best to not think so negatively… I really do need to thank twilight sparkle and her friends…'_

A knock came to the door, and I withdrew from my Zen and turned to face into my room. "It's open, you may come in!" I called out to the door.

Promptly, Nurse Redheart stepped in, pushing in a small, two tiered cart. On the top tier was a bowl of oranges, a glass of what seemed to be milk, and some sort of sandwich. Upon the second tier were the clean clothes I had worn a few days back, on my arrival.

"Good morning Edwin!" she said cheerily. I smiled at her and walked over to her.

"Good morning as well, Nurse. How's today treated you so far?" I asked her. She gave a small giggle.

"My mane seemed to want to teach me a lesson or two, but other than a bad mane day, I say it's been lovely." She smiled brightly. I honestly could not find a flaw in her light pink mane, however.

"Nurse, I think it might be your imagination, because your mane is looking great today. I can only wonder how much care goes into it." I laughed, and she blushed. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"Ahem… well, thank you… that is very kind of you to say. Anyway, um, I brought you breakfast, and Rarity brought your clean outfit." She said, pointing at the cart with a hoof. "Oh!" she added. "They're all waiting downstairs for you. I don't want to be pushy, but you know what they say, it's rude to keep a mare waiting. And there's six of them downstairs." At that, I face-palmed. I had completely forgotten that they would come get me from the hospital in the morning.

"Oh god I'm a goof. Thank you very much for reminding me, nurse Redheart. I will be ready in a few minutes." I told her as I collected my clothes from the cart.

"I wouldn't suggest rushing through things, dear. You've been in bed for three days, remember? That's sure to leave a dent in your motor skil-" she stopped mid-sentence. She then gave a small frown, leaned closer to me, and sniffed. She grimaced. "yikes… I guess your motor skills are the least of your concerns at the moment. You might want to bathe before going anywhere…" I blushed a bit of embarrassment, and turned away.

"aaaahh… well.. yeah, you're right. Would you please tell the girls I'll be ready in about twenty minutes please? Also, could you point me to the nearest shower?" I asked.

"The stallion's shower room is at the very end of this hallway, left door. It should be completely stocked, and towels were just washed and dried." She informed me.

"Thank you, nurse. I'll be downstairs shortly." I thanked. I grabbed my clothes and exited the room. As I reached the shower room, she called out to me.

"Don't forget to eat your breakfast before you leave! You'll need it!" she yelled.

"Got it!" I called back.

Once inside the room, I locked the door behind me and placed my clean clothes on the sink. The bathroom looked perfectly normal, if not a bit more adequate for a pony's size and shape. It would still do perfectly.

I took off the hospital gown, and opened a small closet. Inside were dozens of different shampoo and conditioner bottles, as well as colorful scented soap bars, body brushes, towels, deodorant bars, toothpaste tubes, and individually packaged toothbrushes.

"Well damn, this closet looks like a Wal-Mart isle- IS THAT MINT SHAMPOO?!" Bewildered, I picked up a white bottle labeled "Spearmint Seduction" and opened it. "..My gosh this smells so good." I searched around the closet and withdrew the matching soap, conditioner, deodorant bar, and toothpaste. I placed the toothpaste, the deodorant, and a toothbrush onto the sink. I took the shampoo, conditioner, soap, and body brush to the shower.

The shower itself lasted for nearly fifteen minutes. After all, three days can leave a man in pretty rough hygienic state. I brushed every square inch of my body and limbs thoroughly, and washed my long hair to the best of my abilities. Once clean, I applied the conditioner and massaged my scalp and hair. I rinsed it all off and shut the water. I used my hands to wash my face thoroughly, never having been a fan of acne. Once that was done, I turned the water on again, this time to a cooler temperature. Rinsing all the suds off and shutting the water for the last time, I dried myself off. I stepped out of the shower and walked to the sink, where I applied the mint deodorant and brushed my teeth. Finally, I put on my clean clothes and used a hair brush in the closet. My hair was slightly moist still, but I was too much in a hurry to care. I checked myself over in the mirror.

I was tall, standing at six feet flat. My long copper-brown hair was orderly sitting atop my head in a semi-"Bowl Haircut" style. Green eyes stared back at me, shimmering in the light of the room. The white-and-black striped V-neck t-shirt and the faded black jeans I wore fit me well, making me look a bit slim. I was pretty light-weighted for my height, roughly at about one-hundred-forty pounds. My body and limbs were lean and slim, but muscular. Father's training was to blame.

_'Looking good… I should head downstairs now, got to pick up my gear first, though.' _I disposed of the spent supplies in a bin, and dashed to my room. Stepping inside, I noticed the food on the cart. I was hungry, not even gonna lie. I avoided the sandwich, seeing daisies as its contents. I sat on the edge of my bed and drank the milk and ate three oranges, grabbing one more for the road. She must've overheard me and Twilight talking about our favorite fruits, mine being Oranges. Man, they were AMAZING. They were plump and juicy, and very sweet.

As I finished the third one, I stood up and went to grab my weapons. I slung the rifle over my left shoulder and tightened the strap until it sat snugly and remained completely vertical. I did the same for the carbine on my right shoulder, and put the pistol on its holster, strapping that to my right thigh. I put the headphones around my neck, and slipped the mp3 into my pocket. I was finally ready to leave.

Walking out of the room, down a flight of stairs (which took me 5 minutes of wandering around to find) and into the hospital lobby, I saw Applejack and Rarity reading a levitating scroll, while Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash using magazines from a table to frantically vent air at Fluttershy, who was sitting on a couch.

Well… not sitting, but collapsed and hyperventilating on the couch.

I stepped over quickly, grabbed a magazine, rolled and folded it into a makeshift cup, and ran back upstairs into the shower room. I poured cold water into the cup and ran back to the group without spilling its contents.

"Twi, hold the cup" I asked, and she quickly took the cup from me using her magic. I scooped Fluttershy up using both my arms and sat down in the couch. I held her like an oversized baby, cradling her with an arm while signaling twilight to give me the cup.

"Shhh, Shhh… come on 'Shy, relax. You're okay, just drink some water and relax…" I soothed. Her breathing slowed down and she began to drink down the water. I gave her some more, which she gratefully accepted. She was calmer now, and her breathing was completely normal. She sat up and turned to me, then suddenly embraced me in a tight hug. She began to cry softly.

"Ummm… girls, what's got her upset?" I asked while hugging and comforting Fluttershy as she cried. Rarity levitated the scroll to me. She opened it and I began to read quietly.

_To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. _

_It is a pleasure to hear that the creature you encountered recuperated, but also turned out to be very friendly. I agree that the situation was approached rather hastily, and he only reacted the way he did because he must've been afraid. Please inform him that I wish to extend a sincere apology for not being available and present when he awoke, and a thanks for accepting yours._

_I would also like to cordially invite all seven of you to Canterlot, where we can discuss his being here. It would also serve as a good way for you all to get to know him better and have fun, as I am sure that Pinkie is quite anxious to throw him a welcoming party. I shall send a flying carriage to Ponyville, which you may board once he accompanies you. This carriage will take you to the castle._

_In another note, I would greatly appreciate if you could inform Miss Fluttershy that her brother is here, in the royal castle. Based on what he's told me, they haven't seen each other in quite some time, and I think a reunion is in order._

_Sincerely,_

_ Princess Celestia._

"Soo… I'm guessing your anxiety attack is because of… your brother?" I asked, sort of confused. "I don't understand, shouldn't you be happy you're going to see him again?"

"I-I am… I'm extremely happy that I get to see him once again… b-but…"she shakily sobbed into my neck.

"but what, Fluttershy?" I asked softly, stroking her mane to calm her.

"…i-I thought he was dead…" she choked out. A deafening and awkward silence dragged on for a few seconds.

"Whoa. Why would you think that?" I said, still stroking her mane.

"Because… I haven't heard from him in five years." She sniffled out. She pulled back from the hug. "t-thank you… I feel a bit better now…" she said, a small blush painting her cheeks slightly pink.

"Why didn't you tell us you had a brother?" asked Rainbow Dash she seemed slightly offended.

"l-like I said… I thought he was dead… this was before I met any of you…" said Fluttershy

"Girls, a royal carriage is outside, I think it's for you." Nurse Redheart said, walking by.

"Thanks, Nurse Redheart. I think we should get going, if things here are the same as they are back home, keeping a monarch waiting isn't the smartest thing to do." I said. Honestly, I was a bit nervous about meeting this "Princess Celestia".

"He's right, girls. We shouldn't keep the princess waiting." Twilight said, standing up.

"The princess isn't the only one who is waiting, eh?" I said playfully nudging Fluttershy. "I bet he's excited to see you again."

"I hope he hasn't changed much.. he was the sweetest and most fun brother anypony could ask for." Fluttershy said, a tone of anticipation and excitement growing within her.

And so, we stood up and walked outside, where a carriage was waiting. An open-top carriage hauled by four large Pegasus ponies who I swear were clones. There was no difference or way to distinguish once from another! I decided to walk up to them and get a closer look at their mirror-like polished gold armor, but as soon as I approached one, he turned to me and spoke.

"No lollygagin'" he said, and turned back around as if nothing happened.

"I… wait… what?" I asked in complete stupor. The guard next to him turned to me and spoke also.

"You disrespect the law, and you disrespect Me." he said before him, too, turned as if nothing had happened.

"Wait.. what the fu-" I was cut off by the third guard, who was standing before the first.

"oooh, lemme guess.. someone stole your cupcake." He said, then turned to look forward.

"…What the fuuu-" I said, then was (again) cut off by the fourth and final Pegasus guard.

"My cousin is out fighting Manticores, and what do i get? Carriage duty."

I stood there, wide eyed, and open mouthed. It seemed like an eternity before I heard Twilight shout at me to move.

"EDWIN, WE GOTTA-" i interrupted her by a frantic and panicked shout.

"FUS!"

* * *

***Twenty minutes later, in the skies bordering Canterlot***

The ride to Canterlot had been rather uneventful and quiet. No one had said much, except for Fluttershy. She spent around fifteen minutes trying to explain that her brother had simply vanished after enrolling in the Equestrian Royal Guard. According to her, he hadn't sent a letter since disappearing the morning after he enlisted, and all search missions lead to the conclusion that he had vanished somewhere. I could now understand the anxiety attack.

I was currently listening to music again and looking out of the carriage, which was somehow flying. I never had any problems riding airplanes, but c'mon, a _flying CARRIAGE._ Needless to say, I was scared like all hell to board that thing, but eventually I got comfortable in it.

Surprisingly enough, Music + looking out at the horizon DOES equal a 'You're in a Music Video' feeling. I felt the urge to sing again, but I held back for the sake of not embarrassing myself.

"So," I found myself asking Fluttershy "what're you gonna do first when you see him? Your brother, that is."

"I-I don't know…" she said, with a thoughtful expression "I never thought he would come back, so I never really thought of how I'd react if he did… I guess we'll see soon."

"Speaking of soon, we're here." Announced Rarity, pointing forward. I followed her hoof and saw our destination.

"You've got to be kidding me…" was all I could muster to say. Before us, stood the aforementioned "Canterlot". The place was amazing! It looked like the entire castle was made of Ivory and gold!

"I take it you like our little capital, am I correct?" asked Rarity.

"Well, yeah actually… this place is gorgeous!" I replied.

We landed on a courtyard of what I assumed to be the main castle, where a guard escorted us through the endless and beautiful corridors of the ivory-walled palace. We came to a stop in front of two massive doors that seemed to be made entirely of flawlessly polished gold. Twilight walked up to me and spoke carefully.

"Um… I assume you know how to behave in front of royalty right?" she asked nervously.

"yeap. Play nice, be polite, bow, and no eye-contact. Got it." I said reassuringly, she let out a sort of bubbly giggle at my reply.

"Just the first three, eye contact isn't illegal here." She said.

Upon that, the doors were opened to reveal a gigantic throne room. On either sides, many glass windows depicted scenes that appeared to relate to the ponies somehow. A long velvet rug trailed from the entrance all the way to the thrones, where a patient and calm pony stood. As she calmly walked towards us, I took in her features.

She stood taller than I, albeit by a few scant inches. Her brilliant white coat almost shone in the bright light that found its way in the room. Her mane, in its entire ethereal mystique, flowed freely despite the lack of even the slightest breeze, just as her tail did. It was then I noticed the horn AND pair of wings she possessed. Upon her head sat a large golden crown, which sported a single violet gemstone, matching her chest piece.

"My faithful student! Oh how lovely it is to see you again, Twilight! I'm glad you and your friends could come today." She spoke in a very loving and friendly manner. Twilight immediately trotted to her and nuzzled her, which was returned. She then turned to me. "And you must be Edwin, am I correct?"

"Edwin Lance Marshall, at your service, your highness" I said, taking a respectful bow. She gave a lighthearted giggle and spoke in a melancholic tone, as if remembering things.

"Ah, yes… your father always seemed to like being flashy." She said half-mindedly.

"Yeah I suppose so-" I started, but deadpanned once her words truly sunk in. _'My father? What does she know about my dad? Something's wrong here.' _"Pardon my sudden change in disposition, but how exactly do you know about my father?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, I suppose that is part of the reason of why you are here…" she trailed off. The way she had said that… something told me this wasn't gonna end well.

"What do you mean, 'Part' of the reason? I, along with Twilight and her friends, were summoned to discuss my presence here, wherever 'here' may be… weren't we?" I asked, starting to feel a bit nervous.

"Well, you see Edwin, it is a long and complicated story… one that you might regret hearing, but must hear nonetheless." She said. "But before I can begin to explain, there is something I must do. Something that will prove to you that what you are about to hear is the complete and honest truth." At that, she stepped back a few paces and closed her eyes, looking up to the ceiling.

"P-princess? What are you-" Twilight was interrupted by a bright light beginning to shine out of the tip of Celestia's horn. The light grew in intensity and size, as it consumed Celestia whole, then began to dim out.

Where Princess Celestia once stood, now stood something that I never imagined I'd ever see.

And that something wasn't a something, it was a someone.

And that someone was-

_"M-MOM?!"_

* * *

**_HOW'S IT GOIN', MY FAITHFUL READERS? I MISSED ALL OF YA- *caps off* sorry.. ahem.. Anyway! I am SO SO SORRY this chapter was so ridiculously long overdue, i am entirely to blame. Had a bit of an accident when i went swimming a couple of weeks ago, and it basically involved me almost breaking a finger when i dove in. Yeah, i fractured a finger. Swimming. AREN'T I A TROOP?_**

_**Anyhow, I've recuperated fully and **__******type again, so that means i gotta catch up! i already have chapters 5 and 6 in the planning, so don't worry! These few first chapters will lead an exposition, and after a few "FUN" chapters, i'll be able to get down to the good part of this fic. **_

**_With that outta the way, i'm afraid i have good news and bad news. The bad news is that in the near future of this fic, i'm gonna have to bump up the rating to M. Sorry guys, but i can't see this fic proceed without a bit of graphic scenes. Things from gore, to alcohol, and perhaps maybe a little bit of "THAT ONE THING THAT NOBODY LIKES TO TALK ABOUT BECAUSE IT IS INDECENT AND UNCOUTH"._**

**_Yes, my faithful listeners, i'm talking about sex. Come on, i am certain that we are all old enough to know to both approach this idea with both control and confidence. Why am i announcing this to you? because i really dislike it when people over-react when they see/read/hear something. So consider this a fair warning._**

**_The good news is that since i am no longer in Summer College Classes, i have PLENTY of time to work on this and catch up. _**

**_Also, i'm taking in ONE OC into this story. If you read this chapter closely, then i can assume you might have an idea. Not being picky, but it'd be preferable if said OC was a Pegasus. Again, not being picky, but it'll all come into play VERY VERY soon._**

**_If you are interested, PM me or leave the name, physical description, and aaaaalll that good stuff as a review. And by the way, i won't consider the OC if it is a generic BLACK/RED DEMON ALICORN WITH THE POWER TO SPAWN PEANUTS OUT OF HIS MOUTH. Seriously, no generic god-ponies please._**

**_UNTIL NEXT TIME, THIS IS EDGAR SIGNING OFF! KEEP IT BRONY, KEEP IT PWNY._**

**_PEACE~!_**

**_fun quote of the day: "REALLY BRO?! REALLY?!" (my best friend Fransisco, as he dragged me out nof the pool when i broke my finger)_**


	5. Chapter 5- How I met Your Father

_The inter-dimensional jump worked just as planned. Celestia, Princess and ruler of Equestria, was now in a completely foreign land, nay, universe. She had never in a thousand and a half years imagined she would have to explore such a place. She had hoped she would never have to enter this… this 'human' dimension. But, there she was, and she had a mission to accomplish:_

_ To find a human warrior who was in balance with the Elements of Harmony native to her world, thus making it possible for said human to assimilate into her dimension without causing a disturbance in the fabric of her dimension._

_Said human would be able to help her prevent (and in the worst case, prevail in) a prophesized, global war that could destroy her home kingdom of Equestria. It would be an arduous and difficult task, given the human's volatile ability to resort to unimaginable levels of violence and cruelty. As a goddess, she had the ability to look into other stars, planets, galaxies, and even universes altogether. The sun goddess had observed the humans' evolution from mere multi-celled organisms to the astronomically intelligent and capable species they were today. As sad as it seemed to her, the human race was always in battle with itself. From unhappy arguments to global scale genocide, the human race (to her, at least) was always in a never ending conflict._

_That was not to say all humans were as blood thirsty and ruthless as a rabid, starving manticore. In fact, humanity had instances which completely blew her mind with their sudden moments of generosity and whole-hearted kindness. It was moments like those that gave her hope that she would succeed in her mission._

_"I must do this, for the well being of my little ponies." Celestia muttered to herself as she walked through the streets of a place the humans called "Downtown New York". She was dressed in a white flowing blouse with white pants. Her mane, no longer ethereal, was now a very light blonde head of hair that reached low down her back, which had highlights of her multi-colored mane. Her crown and chest piece were now a bracelet and a necklace. She walked on a pair of golden high heels that complemented to her average (by human standard for a young woman) height._

_"Very well, Celestia, just follow your instinct… let the magic within you find this human… focus… focu-"_

_A very degrading, two toned whistle was directed at her, distracting her and breaking her concentration. She had been at it since she arrived a few hours ago, and all her instinct and internal magic were guiding her deeper and deeper into the town. She didn't question it; in fact, she was becoming elated as the feeling got stronger and stronger as she walked. Following that sixth sense, she was lead to-_

_"A bar? The potential savior of Equestria is in a Bar?" she asked herself bewilderedly. Nevertheless, she knew better than to doubt her magical senses, so she entered the establishment._

_Upon walking in, she was met with a plethora of odors sourcing from various alcoholic beverages being poured. She walked in and found a seat on a stool, where the bartender, a young man with a radiant smile, tended to her._

_"Hey! Welcome to riley's! Want anything to drink?" he asked as he tossed a cocktail mixer around with infinite ease, surprisingly in beat with the rhythm of a song playing._

_"Just a cup of water, please." She replied. Despite his young and spirited personality, he wasn't who she was looking for. The cup of water and ice in hand, she sat nonchalantly, secretly and carefully analyzing every single person in the establishment._

_"I'll find this human soon enough," she thought "it's only a matter of time…"_

***Two hours and thirty minutes later***

_As Celestia finished her thirteenth cup of water, she began to feel the weary doubt in the back of her mind grow._

_"It's been almost an entire day… where is this human?" she would've bailed on the plan, if it weren't for that sensation. Her magical instinct was going wild, almost like a tracking dog would as it drew nearer and nearer to its-_

_"Welcome to Riley's! Care for a drink?"_

_"Long Island Iced Tea please" replied a young male voice. The moment she heard this voice, her magic within her sounded rhetorical alarms all over her mind. Her objective had taken a seat right next to her!_

_'THIS IS IT!' she mentally shouted at herself in victory. 'All you have to do now is befriend him and- and… and then what? Would he be willing to just… vanish from this plane to help another fight a war he wasn't involved in?' Just as she was pondering a good way to approach him, a rather… well… a man drunk off his flank stumbled over, coming to a rest uncomfortably close to Celestia._

_'Please… in the name of all that is good… don't let this man-'_

_"Well hawt *hic* dayum, aren't you a fiiiine peace of meat!" the drunk said, leaning closer still toward Celestia. "Y'know, that there is a lovely pair of pants… I bet they'd look great strewn on my bedroom floor" he flirted, in a stupid and embarrassing manner only achievable with a high level of alcohol ingested. _

_"Sir, I ask you, please leave me be" Celestia asked the man in a calm and patient manner._

_"Mmmm… fancy… I like women with fancy mouths. They give fancy blows!" at his own comment, the drunk erupted into a fit of hiccups and laughter. Celestia was truly offended at this, and wanted nothing more than to use her telekinetic magic to fling this man to the moon. Unfortunately, the only spell that would work in this dimension seemed to be the very spell that would get her back home. Just as she stood to move seats, the man grabbed her by the arm as he continued laughing._

_"Where the hell are you goin', sweetheart? Broad like you needs a real man to… fulfill her needs, don't ya? I'm such man!" he then did what many ponies would pay with in the form of an eternal sentence of the worst torture known to Equestria._

_He gave her a firm slap on the flank… bum… whatever._

_Upon this action, Celestia felt a fury and indignation that she had never felt before. She felt like flinging this man, this beast, straight THROUGH the moon and into the sun using her bare hooves._

_"HOW DARE YOU?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. While she was raising her arm in order to slap him across the face, a calm, familiar voice spoke behind her._

_"Let go of the miss, unless you want to wake up with more than a hangover on your face." The young man sitting next to her was facing them now, and she could see his features clearly. He seemed pretty young, not yet out of his twenties. Bright green eyes, short copper brown hair, and light skin color. She also saw that he wore an olive green shirt with the letters U.S.M.C. printed in black, along with green camo pants. He seemed rather built, a sign that he must've been an avid athlete._

_"I won't say it again, you drunk. Let the lady go, or it'll get nasty here." He said. Celestia detected right away not a threat, but a promise. Despite his words, he wore a smirk that screamed confidence. The drunk turned to the man, let go of Celestia's arm and stumbled over to him until they were (quite literally) nose to nose._

_"Listen here soldya boy," the drunk growled. "you have five seconds to leave this bar before I bash your head into your ass."_

_"One." The soldier counted confidently. The drunk immediately swung his fist, connecting with the other man's stomach. But other than merely being pushed back, the soldier was unfazed._

_"Okay, now it's legal for me to do THIS!" The soldier exclaimed. Without a warning, he kicked out his leg, which connected with the drunk's tibia. His leg slipped from under him, and he fell to a knee. The soldier didn't waste time, as he viciously grabbed the drunk's head and slammed it into the bar face first. The slam was strong enough to make all the cups and glasses on the bar rattle, as well as causing the glasses of a group of girls spill completely. The drunk fell unconscious to the ground._

_"I'm really sorry about your drinks, ladies." The man apologized to the group. He promptly took out his wallet and took out a few bills. He handed them to the bartender. "Next two rounds for the ladies are on me. Sorry again about your drinks, girls."_

_He then turned to Celestia and cleared his throat._

_"Ahem, are you alright miss? Did that man harm you?"he asked, concerned. As Celestia saw two men drag the unconscious drunk outside, she merely nodded and gave a barely audible "Mhm..."_

_"Ah, that's good to hear then. My name's Elijah, Elijah Marshall. Nice to meet you." He said happily, extending his hand for a shake. It was pretty surprising to see a man shift from a vicious fight to a friendly and well mannered greet, even to the point of being unstable. Nevertheless, Celestia took his hand and shook it politely and pleasantly._

_"I'm Celest, nice to meet you too." She said. "Thank you for defending me, I wasn't aware that pon-people could be so rude..."_

_"Hahaha, I see you aren't from New York, eh?" he said in a joking manner. Celestia gave off a small giggle as she replied._

_"That's true, and I assume you aren't just the regular peacekeeper hero, am I correct?" she questioned lightly._

_"Sorry, but there's nothing Heroic about Me." he said as the bartender served him another tall glass of 'tea'. "If there's one thing my father taught me well, it was to stand up for those that can't. To protect what's right. That back there wasn't right. I just followed my old man's preaching. He's in fact the reason I joined the Marines, to protect my home and to stand up to others when those who are being oppressed can't."_

_Celestia was captivated by his words. 'This is him. He is the one.'_

_"Anyway," he announced "could I buy you a drink? You look like you could use one after all that rudeness."_

_"Well… I really shouldn't…" Celestia hesitated. Then again, she remembered just how long it had been since she had anything close to fun. Always, she recalled, work and duties came first. It wouldn't hurt if she decided to let go a bit for just one night, right? Her objective was right in front of her, and it was only a matter of getting him to Equestria._

_"Alright," she said finally "I suppose I'll have one of… those." She said while pointing at Elijah's glass._

_"There ya go, that's the spirit!" he exclaimed "Another Long Island please, just tone this one down a bit, please."_

_"Alrighty, Light Long Island coming up!" said the barkeep as he worked his magic with the cocktail mixing. He slid the lightened drink to Celestia, which she took. She was nervous and cautious about the drink, as it was the first time in a hundred years (literally speaking) that she had consumed any alcohol. After one sip, however, she began to drink it with more freedom._

_"Whaddya think? Pretty good, huh?" Elijah asked._

_"It IS pretty good" Celestia replied, enjoying the drink. As she finished the drink, she sat the now empty glass down and turned to Elijah completely._

_"So, what exactly is a Marine doing in a bar alone? I thought that in the armed forces, one made friends, right?" she asked. Elijah set his drink down as well._

_"Well, to be honest, I aren't exactly the most social of people. That, and people in my squad- heck, the entire battalion- think I'm a bit too… what were the words they used… 'naive'? I'd expect grown men in the armed forces to see past the fact that there are people who know a little something called respect and dignity, buuuut I'm mistaken."_

_"Elijah, let me tell you something" celestia began "people who know respect, dignity and compassion are the people who make this world worth living on. Trust me, not everybody likes a guy like THAT" she said as she pointed at the drunk knocked out outside the bar._

_"Amen to that!" he said as he raised his cup. Upon seeing Celest's cup empty, he ordered another one, and together they raised their cups playfully and enjoyed each other's company and humor._

***two more hours later***

_"see, and wh-*hic* when you have all six of those elements, y'know, Kindness… Loyalty… Generosity… Laughter… Honesty and Magic, you get something truly amazing…" a newly inebriated Celestia said, cupping both her hands together as if holding a fragile little bird. Elijah, inebriated as well, stared at Celestia's hands in amazement, entranced by her words._

_"W-*hic*what do ya get, Celly?" he asked in drunken stupor._

_"Perfect. Harmony." 'Celly' said as she separated her hands and extended her fingers out slowly._

_"Woooooow… I want perfect harmony…" Elijah said._

_"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but the bar's about to close for the night. Should I call a cab for you two?"_

_"Uuuumm… y-yes please." Elijah replied. Celestia looked at the clock and sighed._

_"Grea-*hic*eat. I forgot about th-*hic*that." She said sorrowfully. Elijah turned to her and asked in a worried tone._

_"What's the ma-*hic*atter, Celly?" Celestia looked at him with sad eyes._

_"I forgot to find a hotel or somewhere I could stay." She replied quietly._

_"Oh… w-well, par-*hic*don my boldness, but you could stay with me if you want… I mean, my apartment building isn't far at all, and I could more than gladly take you in until you book a stay in a hotel or something..." he offered shyly and nervously._

_"W-why thank you so much!" she exclaimed thankfully._

_A taxi arrived at the bar five minutes later, which they both boarded and rode to Elijah's apartment building. It was a tall seven-story building, and he, unfortunately for both, lived in the seventh-story. Why unfortunately? The liquor was beginning to make the world swirl for both of them, as they began to lightly stumble and waddle as they walked out of the elevator. Almost at their destination, his apartment door, he tripped and fell face first onto the ground._

_"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Celestia asked as she helped Elijah up._

_"Yeah.. I'm fine, just need a tissue for my lip…" he grunted as he stood up. His lip had been cut open from the fall, and he was bleeding in a worrisome manner. She helped him walk the few final steps to the door, which he opened. It was a nice looking place; well furnished, very spacious, and had a beautiful view of the city through the balcony. As they walked in, she inquired about the restroom._

_"It's in my room, last door to the right" he directed. Following his instructions, she walked him there, where he sat him down in what she assumed was his bed. She saw the restroom door and went there, then took a small towel and dipped a small portion of it in the water of the sink. She made her way back to him. His mouth was stained thoroughly with blood by this time._

_"That fall really did a number on you…" she said as she sat down. She proceeded to use the moist towel to wipe away the blood. As she did however, she noticed he was being very quiet. Breaking her focus from lip cleaning, she looked up to notice… he was looking deep into her eyes. It was then she noticed how his eyes seemed to sparkle with the lighting of the restroom light in combination with the lights of the city. It made her heart flutter, to say the least. The stare-down lasted a few moments then she cleared her throat and went back to cleaning his lip. However, her gaze traveled, and she found herself unconsciously looking at his lightly bulging arms. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second to concentrate, and returned once again to cleaning his lip. Mere moments later, she finished._

_"Okay, your lip is… clean… now…" she trailed off as she now found herself unable to look away from the pair of lips she had such a hard time focusing on a few seconds ago. As she backed away a little, she saw all of him in one scene; his vibrant and beautiful green eyes, his toned and fit body, and finally… his lips. Those tendered, soft lips she was cleaning a few moments ago. She found herself entranced by his figure, and she knew it wasn't just the alcohol taking control of her mind. Not only did she find his physique… attractive, but also his very way of being. He did, after all, possess the qualities and elements of a good hearted being. He was kind, loyal, generous, happy, honest, and, all in all, he was a truly unique person. In her eyes, he was the kind of person that she wished existed in Equestria, someone she could settle and live happily with._

_With all these thoughts burying her mind, she couldn't tell she was leaning towards him and him towards her… until their lips met. When they did, she was snapped out of her troubled thoughts like a whip lash. The contact surprised her at first, but she almost immediately began to enjoy it. It was a long and passionate kiss, which went on for almost a full minute. Unfortunately for her, she needed to breathe, as she realized when they parted the kiss slowly. Their foreheads met, as they were holding each other close._

_"Celest, I've never met a girl like you… it's like, you encompass and represent what every person wants in life…" he said quietly to his new love._

_"What is that?" Celestia said in slow, quiet gasps of air. She was beginning to grow hotter and hotter in his embrace, which she wished would be as eternal as she._

_"Perfect. Harmony." He whispered into her ear._

_The way he had whispered that into her ear, how he had used her own words against her, to describe what he felt for her… it drove her over the edge. She no longer doubted it, she knew she had feelings, strong feelings, for him. Something in her mind snapped, as she took a hold of his face and began to passionately kiss him. This time, their tongues engaged in a dance of love, intense and mutual as their love. It seemed uncanny how emotions could erupt in such a short time but she didn't mind, she didn't care one bit. All that was in her mind was him, and the same could be said for him, as well. As the two lovers kissed, the burning passion of their newly formed love began to escalate, as Celestia began to lay back on the bed, pulling him down with her. The human marine and Princess of Equestria let their burning love for each other drive them without doubting it nor resisting it. That night, the princess learned what true and uncontrolled love was, as she became one with the man she knew would save equestria._

_As his and her moans of passion filled the air that night, she knew. He was the one._

* * *

"… and that is how we met, your father and I. All it took was that one night for us to grow immensely close." She said with a melancholic tone. It seemed like she held that memory close to her heart. "the following weeks were spent with him, as I had seemed to had forgotten I had a kingdom to govern and protect. We soon found out I had become pregnant, we had you, and spent almost two years happy with each other after you were born. The rest… I feel like you know" she finished with regret.

"I-I don't get it… if he was the chosen one, why didn't he come here?! Why me?!" I asked, still as confused as before. This all was much information to take in at once, but I still felt like something was off. She was hiding something.

"I was wrong about him being the chosen human. True, he possessed all the qualities of the elements of harmony, but there was one thing he was missing to be able to help us with our problem." She replied.

"And just what is that he lacked?"

"Magic. You see, everypony and everything in this dimension has some level of magic. Whether it's the passive, innate magic that all ponies and creatures possess, or the active magic only unicorns, alicorns, and other creatures own, we all have magic. Without it, a being here wouldn't be able to survive." She explained. "Since you were- Are- a human child born off of an alicorn, you were able to retain your human form, while possessing magic like any Equestrian creature does."

"Okay… let me get this straight… you mean to tell me that I am One, the son of a goddess from an different universe; two, possess magic, and finally are destined to save this world?"

She merely nodded.

"Did my dad at least know?" I asked in a trembling voice, turning away and facing one of the windows.

"Yes. I told him everything the night before you were born… I was able to use some of the little magic available to me to show him everything. Equestria, the elements… everything." She said.

All this information raced through my mind. She, the Princess of Equestria, a goddess of this universe, was my mother. Through searching for a prophesized hero, a warrior that would save her lands and her loyal subjects, she found my father… and fell in love with him. This came as a blow, and I found myself breathing hard.

For the first time in years, I was enraged. Enraged, that all this had happened without me knowing the least of it. Enraged that it was kept from me from my very own father. All along, my destiny was planned out for me, and I was kept in the dark?

"Let me guess… every single moment of my life with him was preparing me for this? Everything I learned, everything he taught me, it was to ready me for this?" Celestia's silence confirmed it.

My hands curled into fists, and began to shake. Without warning, my hand reached for my pistol. I drew it, aimed at the window, and shot repeatedly as I screamed.

**_*POP*_**

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

**_*POP*_**

"HOW. FUCKING. DARE YOU?!"

**_*POP* _**

"ALL THIS TIME, YOU BOTH KNEW, YET YOU GODDAMN HID IT FROM ME!"

"Edwin, please calm down! I know this is much to take in, but please calm down!" Celestia begged. I turned and single-handedly aimed at her, though a steady stream of tears clouded my vision. A couple of tears were falling from her eyes as well. The rest of the ponies were cowering behind Twilight, who had created a dome of magic to shield them. Fear and terror were showing on all their faces, but I didn't care in the slightest. I was far too lost in the maddened stage of pure and demented rage to care.

"BULL-FUCKING-SHIT! DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN. GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOUR DAMN SKULL!"

"I-I can't…" she sobbed. Merely kept aiming at her with the pistol, every ounce of my irrational mind begging to pull the trigger.

But for some reason, I couldn't.

"I'm sorry this all had to… to happen…" celestia choked out as she cried "I'm sorry I hurt you so much, but please, I'm pleading for your forgiveness… I love you so, so much… not one day passed without me thinking about you, and now that you're finally here, I couldn't live with myself knowing you hate me…" she started walking slowly towards me.

As she drew closer, I found it harder not only to keep aiming at her, but to hold the gun at all. As she finally reached me, she slowly pushed the gun down, and embraced me in the most tender and loving hug I'd ever received.

"M-my baby… oh how I missed you, my dear… I longed for the moment where I could hold you close again" she sobbed out. As she hugged me tightly, I felt a huge change of heart. I didn't feel angry anymore, nor did I feel alone. Finally, I felt… at ease. Safe. I was in my mother's arms at last, something I had secretly wished for when I was younger. I felt weak, and we both dropped to our knees. The pistol clattered to the floor as I lost my hold on it, but I didn't care. I was too busy holding my mother in the most loving embrace of my life.

We cried together, we apologized to each other, but we never let go of each other.

Never again.

* * *

As the day progressed, mom changed to her normal alicorn form. She said something about it not being a problem if I wanted her to remain in human form, but I told her that it honestly didn't matter to me, as in either form she would still be my mother and that was all that mattered to me. She eventually decided to move to the dining room, where we could discuss our stay on the castle, as well as pointing out that that was where Fluttershy's brother was waiting. I assumed she could've called a guard to guide us, but my guess was that she didn't want to be far from me, and I felt the same way. As we walked the halls of the castle with mom at the lead, Fluttershy flew up behind me and hugged the back of my head.

"I'm so glad that you reunited with your mommy. I can't imagine how it must've felt like to be separated from somepony so close before even getting to know them well." She said. I gave a warm chuckle.

"To be completely honest Fluttershy, I feel the same way about you and your brother. I can't begin think of how much it must've hurt to have lost him so suddenly."

"I guess we have that in common," she said "that, and the fact that we also reunited."

"Yep, you must be excited, seeing as how soon you are to seeing your bro again." I remarked. She nodded and got off, choosing to walk. As we turned a left, we entered a great hall where a single, unbelievably long table resided.

"Here we are! The Dining room!" Celestia announced. Fluttershy trotted up to her and began to frantically look around.

"Where?! Where is he?!" she asked excitedly. But the room was empty, and void of anyone else other than the eight of us. Suddenly, there came a clearing of a throat behind us.

"Looking for someone?" a young, male voice called out. Fluttershy spun around quicker than I thought possible.

Her eyes went wide open as her face formed a smile.

* * *

_**Aaaand that's another one! Daaaang, that one was a looong one! (That's what she said!) The reason of why I decided to post this early and made it such a long chapter was to thank you all! This story broke the 500 viewer mark today!**_

_***yaaaaay***_

_**that's honestly like, 500 times the views i expected to get for this story. thank you all sooo soo much for taking the time to read my story and review it! you have no idea how much it means!**_

**_the next chapter is already planned out, i just need to type and revise it for grammar mistakes. I'll get to it tomorrow, i promise. Right now, i feel a bit burned out from typing out so much xD_**

**_Thanking y'all for the views, this is Ed, Signing out!_**

**_Peace~!_**

**_fun quote of the day_**

**_"DUDE. I HEARD YOU LIKE KITTENS, SO I BOUGHT YOU NINTENDOGS." my sister, once i came out of the hospital after getting a finger cast-thingy._**


	6. Chapter 6- Brothers in Hooves

"Looking for someone?" called out a young male voice.

Fluttershy spun around immediately, as a smile exploded onto her face. Before any of us could turn to face the origin of the male voice, she flew past us in speeds that Rainbow Dash could only stutter about.

"SKY!" she shouted as she hugged the pony who had called out.

He was almost the splitting image of Fluttershy. Same coat color, same eyes, same look of excitement plastered on his face. He wore some sort of armor that was unlike the armor of the royal guard. It was a dull gray, and it consisted of some sort of chest guard and segmented leg plates. There were also plates for what I assumed were his wings, and his back legs were also armored. Most of his torso was covered, but his flanks and tail were exposed. His cutie mark was similar to Fluttershy's, but instead of three pink butterflies, he sported three silver eagles whose wings extended to look like blades. His mane and tail were a dark Platinum color, and his mane was stylized to spike forwards.

"ohmygoodness ohmygoodness! I thought you were gone!" Fluttershy was speaking at a hundred miles per hour as she hugged her brother. She separated from the hug slightly to see him clearly. "… you've changed so much since… since…" she trailed off. She let go of him as she looked deeply into his eyes.

Then, she slapped him with the force of thunder. The _SMACK _was so loud it made everyone, even Celestia, grimace.

"Why would you just disappear like that?! Mom and I were worried sick!" she "screamed" (in reality it sounded more like a very loud whisper) at her brother. Surprisingly enough, he recovered from her falcon slap almost immediately and looked at her with apologetic eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry, 'Shy… I know it was a dumb move, but it was what I needed to do… what I was _Instructed_ to do. You see, I ended up not joining the royal guard." He explained. "no, I was invited to join something much more important than that."

"More important than the royal guard? I thought you wanted to defend and protect the princesses like father did…" Fluttershy inquired. Sky looked at the floor, as he continued his explanation.

"I did… I wanted to be like father, but… turned out, the royal guard wasn't as avidly recruiting as I thought. I was turned down on the recruitment center of Ponyville, Canterlot, and Cloudsdale." He said. "I was about to try Manehattan, but I was stopped by the recruiter of Cloudsdale. He made me an offer that I realized would do much more good than the royal guard."

"What was it?" Fluttershy asked, confused yet infinitely curious. Her brother motioned everyone to accompany him to the table. Once we were all seated, he began to tell his story.

* * *

_"The Special Coalition Forces?" Silver Sky asked. He was young, and eager to follow in his father's hoovesteps and join the Royal Guard. Somehow, however, he kept being turned down. Reasons ranging from 'no demand for new recruits' to 'not looking fit for the guard' were the ones he was given. He wasn't going to give up. He knew that it was his destiny to join. Just as he was about to take off from the Cloudsdale Recruiting Center, the Recruiting Officer stopped him. He had been invited to the RO's office, where he had been offered an entrance to the SCF._

_"The Special Forces are nothing like the royal guard, mind you, but right now, they are recruiting." The officer, a muscular and strong looking blue Pegasus stallion with short trimmed black mane, said. "Just a fair warning, the Coalition Forces are the toughest Sons of Bitches out there, only the best of the best of the royal guard make it in. Not going to lie, son, those guys will either break you, or they will turn you into something that you would've never accomplished in the Guard."_

_Silver Sky thought about it hard. He expected the Royal guard to be the best that Equestria had to offer, but to learn that there was something more… well, it was tempting._

_"I… um…" he hesitated for a second, and then looked at the recruiter with a look of complete determination._

_"I'll do it."_

* * *

"What followed was potentially the worst seven months of my life…" he said. "After meeting up with the top commander for the forces, I learned it was a secret army put together by Our very own princess celestia and the leaders of Stalliongrad, the nations of saddle-Arabia, and the Griffon kingdom.

The army wasn't large at all, maybe a few hundred units strong. But nearly a hundred unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies and griffons started training with me as well, but only the toughest stayed. That cut the entering numbers by nearly half.

Training was… Brutal doesn't do it justice. I mean; we were beaten, worked to the bone, treated worse than scum… and that was just the commanding officers. Within the ranks, everypony tried to establish some sort of dominance over everypony else. We were berated, and sometimes even starved." He continued, with a distant look in his face. He seemed lost in the memory.

"They broke us down. They broke our minds and bodies until we wished nothing less than a quick and immediate death… then they rebuilt us. Much better than ever before. We were stronger, faster, and more cunning. We learned to work together to survive the training camp. Out of all of us, I had made the biggest change and improvement. I started off the youngest and weakest, and then grew to be the bunk leader of a small group that would be my designated squad. It was me, another pegasi, three unicorns, an earth pony and a griffon. There were disputes over who should be leader, but the only way we were going to solve it… it would've been through a test of strength."

"Whoa… sounds like hell… what did you end up doing?" I asked. This was seriously starting to sound like 'Boot Camp'. Sky looked up at me, and with a serious expression, said..

"We fought it out."

* * *

_Silver Sky wasn't afraid. He had lost his ability to do so after his first month as a SCF recruit. It had been almost six months since he first set foot into the abandoned Griffon castle that had been turned into what he grew to call Hell. Five months of training had turned him into a strong, agile colt. One of the most improved of his kind. In fact, he saw a vast change in his fellow recruits. Earth ponies were growing immensely strong, to the point where their bucks were strong enough to shatter stone and bend steel. Pegasi weren't as strong, but they didn't fall too far behind. However, they were growing faster and swifter than any Wonderbolt he'd seen. Unicorns were learning countless offensive and defensive combat spells, as well as perfecting the arts of teleportation and healing spells. Griffons grew into fearsomely effective cold and calculating beasts. From hoof to hoof combat, to sword fighting, to archery, they had become masters of combat. These weren't ponies and griffons anymore, they were super-soldiers. The best fighters of Equestria._

_"Alright, you celestia damned maggot sacks! Form up, NOW!" the leading drill sergeant, Ice Hoof, shouted. Immediately, fifty griffons, unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi lined up perfectly, with serious expressions on their faces as they looked straight ahead. Silver Sky and his 'squad' weren't there, as they were currently inside what everyone referred to as "The Pit". It was a large arena several dozen meters deep in the ground, with the top covered by a chain-linked door. The ground was nothing but sand collected from the beach surrounding the island. This was a designated fighting place, were recruits (and, on rare occasions, officers) could fight out disputes._

_Sky was in the pit with his entire seven unit squad because they didn't see him fit as a squad leader. He was going to prove them wrong._

_"Looks like the pretty mares from Echo team have a little misunderstanding to resolve, and they kindly offered to showcase their solution!" Ice Hoof shouted. "Whaddaya say, Fillies?!" he asked the crowd._

_"BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!" the crowd chanted in perfect unison._

_"ALRIGHT YOU WORTHLESS SACKS OF SCUM, SHOW US WHO'S TOP BITCH!" the sergeant shouted down the hole. The hole was large enough to allow all the recruits to crowd around and get a good view of the action below them._

_As the sergeant shouted the fight to start, it was one of the pegasi, Screech Storm, who made the first assault. He flew at top speed at Silver, who merely stood on his hind legs and thrust kicked. The impact landed exactly in Screech's torso, stopping him instantly. Air exploded out of his mouth, as his eyes went wide and pupils shrank to almost non-existence. Sky retracted his hoof from Screech's abdomen, as the Pegasus collapsed to his knees and held his stomach. He gasped for air, but was immediately knocked out after Sky gave him a firm uppercut._

_It was then the unicorns who attacked. They began by having one of the unicorns, Crimson Dawn, fire a torrent of electricity at Sky, which he evaded. He picked up flight, as he knew he would have to use agility instead of raw strength to best the unicorns. He flew straight at the unicorn, and then zipped up right before crashing onto him. The unicorn followed him with his look, but didn't find him anywhere._

_Then he felt of a thousand stallions being rammed onto him at once. He flew back, and crashed into one of the other unicorns, effectively knocking both of them out of the fight. The last unicorn, Comet Blast, was looking for the Pegasus who had knocked out his both comrades with such ease. Before his eyes tracked him, he instantly conjured up a magic wall to his left, which absorbed the shock of a powerful buck. It was none other than the earth pony of the squad, Stone Edge. He wanted to be leader, and by celestia, he was going to fight his hardest to get there. The magic wall cracked under the force of the buck, and was finally shattered when he spun around and rammed his right front hoof into it. Comet backed away fearfully, for he knew just how easily this pony could dispose of him. Unfortunately, he backed away into a wall, and Edge was drawing near._

_"I-I-I- DON'T WANNA FIGHT YOU! I'LL STAY OUT OF YOUR WAY JUST PLEASE DON-" he was silenced by Edge viciously head-butting him, which neutralized Comet._

_"Shut your damn yapper for once." He grumbled. He turned to look for Silver Sky, but was surprised when he saw a clawed fist sailing at him. The impact rocked his head back, and in the few seconds of distraction, was picked up by his assailant. He was thrown into the hard walls of the pit, and as he bounced off the wall, he felt a slamming force on his back. He crashed onto the ground, and was kicked in the stomach. He turned to lie to face the ceiling, but a flurry of fist slammed into his face and abdomen. Finally, he was picked up yet again, and slammed back down into the floor. Before his vision dimmed out, he saw a long feathered tail swishing away from him._

_Razor Claw calmly walked away from the now unconscious Stone Edge. His plan of letting the ponies finish each other off had worked. He used his black feathered body as a perfect camouflage in the shadows of the arena, only to erupt out to beat the last pony senseless. As an opportunist, he liked to take every advantage possible and ensure his victory. He never lost, and he specially would never be commanded by a pony that was so much younger than he. His pride simply wouldn't allow it. He searched and flew above the arena, but could not find silver sky._

_"Silver Sky, I know you are here. I know you are still standing. Come face me, and I promise your defeat will be swift! You will be unconscious before you feel any pain!" he threateningly offered. It seemed impossible that a Pegasus colt could be so stealthy and quiet. He was undetectable! He finally landed near Stone Edge, for he had a contingency plan. With one claw, he picked up the motionless Earth Pony and announced._

_"Silver Sky, come out and face your demise, or this pony will suffer more than he already has! I know your naïve and self-righteous conscience won't allow it, so stop hid-"he was interrupted mid sentence by a surprise that caught him completely off guard._

_Silver Sky erupted out of the sand floor only a few scant feet from Razor Claw, flying like a missile towards his opponent. Razor Claw didn't even have the chance to shout before Sky drove him into the wall. He relentlessly punched razor claw into the stone wall, and finished him off by picking him up with his hooves, jumping a few meters in the air with the assistance of his wings, then flying down and crash-landing into the sand, using Razor as a cushion mat._

_He stood up, and began to walk away from the arena without a saying a word._

* * *

"…That camp changed us all, but without it, we wouldn't have been prepared for the missions we were assigned after completing the training." He finished his story. Fluttershy was near tears after hearing his tale, as she stood from her seat beside him and hugged him tightly.

"It's alright, 'Shy. I promise I'm fine." He hugged her back and reassured his sister. She wasn't so sure, however.

"Sky… I beg you … please don't go back to that. I don't want you to get hurt." She cried into his neck.

"Sorry 'Shy, but I can't just leave the SCF. Especially not now." He apologized.

"I take it the SCF is still recovering from the wedding incident two years ago?" Celestia asked him.

"Correct, your highness. That battle was a blow that the SCF felt to its bones." He said, sorrowfully.

"Wait what happened two years ago?" I asked confused.

"Two years ago, my older brother, Captain Shining Armor, was to be married to Princess mi Amore Cadenza, or Princess Cadence for short." Twilight explained. "It turned out that the Cadence he was about to marry was Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the changelings. Right before the wedding, and after my failed attempt at revealing her true intentions, she finally revealed herself; at which point changelings invaded Canterlot with the intentions of feeding off ponies' love. Thankfully, my brother and the REAL Cadence were able to repel the attack using the power of their love for one anoth- hey is your eye okay? It's shaking a bit."

I held a finger to my lower eyelid from stopping it from twitching.

"Anyway, what you don't know is that the invasion was supposed to be larger. Much larger. We had learned of their plans after overhearing it from a group of stray changelings that Alpha team found in the border of the Changeling kingdom. They carried the news as fast as they could, but that only gave us time to hastily deploy a small battalion." He looked down at the table, as tears began to build up in his eyes.

"When we reached the interception point a few day's flight from Canterlot, we found that we were completely outnumbered. Out of four hundred ponies sent, only twenty managed to retreat… myself and my squad included. It was a brutal defeat, but we managed to thin out and hold the lines long enough to get the word to Captain Shining Armor to build the defenses that held the scant changelings that breached.

You see, the SCF was still small back then, and that loss wiped out most of our forces. As such, we've kept in hiding, trying desperately to regain our strength while helping out as much as we could, while being fewer than 200 units strong. After that incident, and taking back the Crystal Empire, our very own members started deserting as well. They weren't pursued; after all, we don't exist."

We all remained silent for a few moments, before Sky cleared his throat and spoke again, though this time in a much cheerful tone.

"Anyhow, that doesn't matter at the moment, since all field units have been given an indefinite leave until needed." He said, lightening up the mood quite a bit. "For the moment, 'Shy, why don't ya go ahead and introduce me to your new friends?"

"Oh, s-sure!" she stuttered a bit. "That over there is Rainbow Dash, fastest pony in Equestria; then Pinkie Pie, party planner extraordinaire; Rarity, successful fashionista; Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acres; Twilight Sparkle, Celestias protégé, and Edwin Marshall, Celestia's-" her introductions were interrupted as Celestia finished introducing me for Fluttershy.

"My newest loyal subject. You see, he comes from a community deeply hidden within the depths of the Everfree Forest, isn't that so, Edwin?" she asked me.

_'Well, crap. Think, Edwin, think! She wants to keep your true origin a secret, so you have to follow up with a believable-GOT IT!'_

"Yes, that is correct. See, I come from a small village, Helgen. As Princess Celestia said, it his hidden inside a very large cave deep within the Everfree. The reason for my departure was… umm… nobody liked me." I pretended to be sad. "I was completely different from everyone else there, and I decided to leave. I trekked the Everfree Forest blindly for about two weeks before coming across a small pony village, aptly named Ponyville. These six fine ladies advised me to follow them to introduce myself to the ruler of the land, and… voila, here we are."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry about your… detachment from your people; I'm sure you will be widely accepted by the pony community" he said in a friendly manner.

"OHMIGOSHTHATREMINDSME!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed out of nowhere, earning a jump from me. "We haven't thrown you a 'Welcome to Equestria' party!"

"Oh! I heard Vinyl Scratch is going to perform tonight on the opening of her new club! Why don't we go there tonight?" Rainbow Dash offered, quite excitedly.

"I agree! I simply adore Vinyl's music!" Rarity commented.

"Wow, Rares, I didn't take you for a raver!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, please Rainbow Dash, you didn't take me for some sort of boring fru-fru mare, did you?" Rarity replied in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"heheheh, um, of course not!" Dash said, looking left and right as she spoke.

A Royal Guard trotted through the door, and went to whisper something in Celestia's ear. As the guard left, Celestia quietly motioned me to go to her. As I stood up and walked, I could hear the girls talk about staying late at the party. I mentally face-palmed, since I was never one to attend big, loud parties.

"You needed something?" I said quietly as I reached mom, who began to stand.

"Yes, it seems like I am needed somewhere else. I'm extremely sorry to cut our time together short, but-"

"Royalty calls. Don't worry mom, I understand." I said smiling. She then smiled back, and used her magic to spawn a small, black pouch between us. She floated the bag over to me, and let go of it once I took hold of it. I opened the pouch, which was full of shiny golden coins.

"Ooooh, you must be good at Mario games!" I joked as I closed the pouch. "What's this for?" I asked.

"It's a little stipend for you. It seems you will need it for later tonight." She said and raised an eyebrow. I chuckled.

"Thanks mom, but let's not make this a thing, okay? I really appreciate it, but I never liked the whole 'Allowance' idea. Dad didn't do it, and he taught me to work for what I wish for, and I guess that really stuck. I'd feel more comfortable if I worked for money, okay?"

She gave me a quick hug and a peck in the cheek. "Stubborn and hard working, just like your dad." She laughed a bit. "If you'll excuse me, I have annoying politics to tend to." She sighed and shook her head sideways.

"Have fun." I said, kind of sorry she had to leave.

"You too!" she said with a smile, before she walked away, which somehow went completely unnoticed by everyone else. I went back to my seat.

"I agree with Dashie! Going to a club sounds like fun!" Pinkie supported. The girls agreed with each other, and began to finish plans for the night. Meanwhile, Silver Sky moved seats and sat right next to me.

"Thiiiiiis isn't good." He said as he heard the plans. The word 'Dancing' was heard from the group as they excitedly giggled. We both grimaced at once upon hearing the word.

"I take it you aren't one for loud club parties?" he asked. I nodded and cleared my throat.

"Yeah, uh, I'm pretty much part of the 'Wallflower' club." I said jokingly. He chuckled.

"Welcome to the club." He joked.

"Okay! Now that we have most everything planned, there's one last matter of subject." Twilight concluded.

"And what is that?" Rarity questioned.

"Where will we stay for the night? I'm pretty sure the party is going to end late into the night, and I don't think the castle gates will open that late." Twilight stated.

"Hotel?" I said plainly. The girls agreed loudly and went back to their excited moods.

"Ohmigosh this is gonna rock!" Rainbow said as she jumped into the air.

"Shouldn't we book the rooms beforehand?" I asked them, though I and Silver were separate from the group of six excited mares.

"True! Rarity, you do have your make-up kit on you, right?" Twilight asked. Rarity then proceeded to take out a big hand- errr, hoof bag, from behind her back.

"Not to worry, Twilight! A lady is always prepared!" Rarity proclaimed proudly.

"Well then, let's go book the hotel rooms! Calculating the group size and prize affordability, it'd be best if we split up in two groups of three, plus the guys will have a room for themselves." Twilight claimed as she began to walk. As we followed close, I could only shrug as to say 'Oh well'

***Fifteen minutes later***

Twilight led us out of the castle and into the streets of Canterlot, in our search for a hotel. As we walked the streets, I felt dozens of eyes on me. I caught glimpses of fancily dressed ponies whispering at each other and pointing at my direction. I tried ignoring it, but the further we went, the more blatantly obvious their judging became. I managed to hear bits of certain conversations.

"what in celestia's name is _that?"_

"is that… _thing…_ walking on two legs?"

"keep clear, Comet, it might be sick or something." Not new to other's judgment, I merely scoffed and kept going.

We finally found a hotel, which, according to Rainbow Dash, was pretty close to the site of the opening club. We talked with the desk-pony and booked three rooms, which were all beside each other. Boarding an elevator and reaching the fifth floor, I noticed that everything was basically the same thing as a human hotel. As we reached our designated rooms, Twilight turned to the girls and spoke.

"Well, here's where we split off. Who will share rooms with who?" she asked the other mares.

"I think Rarity and Fluttershy should crash with you, Twilight. I mean, seeing as you three are the quieter ones. Me and Pinkie and A.J aren't afraid of a little ruckus, right girls?" Rainbow Dash offered.

Instead of staying to listen, I walked up to Twilight and asked for a keycard. She gave me the one for the room that was in between the other two. I walked into it and noticed how similar this hotel looked like your average Holiday Inn room. I walked into the bathroom right away, a strange habit of mine whenever I go to hotels, and came back out. It was pretty nice, overall.

A knock at the door came, and I opened it to see Silver Sky with a deadpan expression.

"They wanted me to curl my hair." He said. I stepped aside and held a door into the room, welcoming him in.

"Did you tell them they could go suck a-"

"Yeess, I told them I wouldn't do it." He interrupted with a chuckle.

"I don't assume ponies use hair gel?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure most ponies use gel to stylize their manes, dude." He replied

"Oh, good. That means I just need to go buy some."

"I think Rarity might have some." He said. I replied with an 'Okay' and began to mull over the plans for later tonight. Another knock came, and I went to open the door. Rarity stood in the entrance, holding a dry cleaner bag.

"Sorry to interrupt darling, but I was hoping you would wear this later tonight? I based these off some of the more modern styles of today and tried applying it to your shape and size. I like the final product, but please don't hesitate in letting me know if there are any things that need to be changed or adjusted." She said, handin-_hoofing_ me the bag.

"Aw, you shouldn't have, Rarity! Thank you so much!" I said as I carefully took the bag. As she began to walk to her room, I stopped her, remembering I needed hair gel.

"Sorry Rarity, but do you happen to have any hair gel on you? Or, I think ponies might call it mane gel." I said

"Ah yes, I do have a spare bottle. I shall go get it." She went to the room left of mine and Sky's and emerged holding a flask filled with green jelly using her magic. I thanked her and took it, then we both went to our respective rooms.

Walking in, I saw Silver drying his coat off with a towel. His mane, surprisingly enough, looked like a shorter (and silver-colored) version of Fluttershy's.

"Damn, you showered already?" I asked, walking towards the clothes that Rarity had given me. I opened the bag, revealing a dark red dress shirt, black slacks, and a striped black vest. _'Holy shit she's good…'_

"Yeah, I figured that we should get ready early, so I went ahead and showered. Hey, mind if I use a bit of that gel?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure dude, help yourself."I said, offering him the gel. He took it and went back into the restroom. He emerged back with his normal, forward-spiked hair.

"Well, I'm ready to go." He said. Looking at him, I felt there could be something missing… sure, he wasn't wearing his armor, but something about his image felt… lacking. _'That's it!'_

"Wait, hold up a sec." I said. I took off my headphones from around my neck and disconnected both ends of the cable that connected mp3 to headphones. With just the red muffs, I adjusted their size to as large as they went and placed them on his neck. They fit well. _'Boom! There we go, now that looks cool!"_

"There, that looks sick on you!" I complemented.

"Oh wow, thanks." He said, looking at a mirror. He nodded of approval and smiled at me. "I'll be sure to take good care of 'em, I promise to give them back when we leave the club."

"alright, no problem." I said. I walked to the bathroom and, after closing the door, proceeded to take a light shower. Once I dried myself off, I put on the clothes that Rarity gave me. After that, I moistened my hair and thoroughly applied gel to it. After a few hair flips, I got the messy wet hair look that I wanted.

We exited our room and made our wait to the lobby, where our long wait for the girls to get ready was about to begi-

"Okay, let's go!" said Twilight as she trotted past us, along with the rest of the mares. They had all styled their hair similarly, down and slightly curled at the ends. They also had make-up on, which somehow complemented the look. As I pocketed the key card, I noticed Sky was staring at them with sparkly eyes, and an open mouth and pink on his muzzle.

"Hey, dude, you okay there?" I asked.

He didn't reply, but instead shot out his wings fast enough that a feather or two came off. His muzzle then proceeded to bleed a bit.

"Oh crap dude, I'll get you a tissue." I said. I ran to the lobby mare, who gave me a tissue after asking. When I came back, however, I saw that he was trying to force his fully outstretched wings down.

"Muscle cramp?" I asked as I handed him the tissue.

"Y-Yeah, something like that." He muttered. We walked out of the hotel and caught up with the girls on our short trip to the club. The sun was already going down, and by the time we got there, the skies were a beautiful orange.

The outside of the club, a two-story building with a neon light sign that read "The Scratch", had a small line of ponies eager and excited to go in. Loud electronic music was heard (and felt, as we drew nearer to the door) from within. After a few minutes, the line grew behind us, and the chatter grew progressively louder as time passed. After about twenty minutes of waiting, a near-white unicorn with bi-shaded blue mane wearing purple shades stepped out through the main doors.

"Alright everypony! You guys ready to shake some flank?!" she asked out loud. Cheers emerged from the line, giving her the response she wanted. She smirked.

"Then LETS GO!" she shouted as she used her magic to open the doors to the club. The mares in front of us cheered and yelled as they trotted in.

Silver Sky and I looked at each other, nervously gulped, and walked in.

* * *

_**Boom. Chapter 6. Thanks to every one that reads this, i seriously believed this story was gonna sink after Chapter one, but apparently im doing SOMETHING right xD**_

**_Also, that reminds me, THIS STORY BROKE 700 VIEWERS! HOLY CRAP! THAT WAS A HUGE JUMP FROM LAST CHAPTER! THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH!_**

**_Sadly, (upon closer inspection of the FanFiction Ratings guide) i had to bump up the rating to M in this chapter, mostly for the language. not to worry though, this just gives me more breathing room to exercise my imagination into the most descriptive graphic scenes i can muster, something i'm looking forward to whenever violence and gore will be involved!_**

**_Thanks for the support, Ed signing out._**

**_Peace~!_**

**_Fun quote of the day:_**

**_"HOLYSHITLOOKIT ALL THE GLOWSTICKS!" me last night, at a neon foam party featuring DJ CARNAGE._**


End file.
